


Survivor

by Smudge357



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Jedi, Star Wars References, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22697098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smudge357/pseuds/Smudge357
Summary: We all have our demons that we fight.  And sometimes... they win.We are criticised for our choices.  For what we do.  For how we live.  But people don't understand.  They don't understand our mindset, our philosophy, our being.  They assume that we come out the same as everyone else in slavery; broken and beaten.But some of us are born with the ability to reach further into our reservoirs of resistance and strength.  True, it changes us.  But it changes us in a different way.  We are the battle-weary that continue to fight anyway.  We are the headstrong, but the ones who can also empathise.  We have something in us that sets us apart.  It's not good.  It's not bad.  It's the instinct for survival.Because survivors are not born.   They are made.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Author's Foreword

**Author's Note:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad. My username on there is in my bio :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also found on Wattpad by Smudge 357. 
> 
> For now, please ignore the autofill chapter numbers (e.g. chapter 1 in this Author's Note). I'm new to Ao3 still, so I'm kinda fighting with the controls behind the scenes. I'll try and sort things out as soon as possible!

Welcome reader, to my humble adobe.

Well, my humble book I suppose you should say. Thank you so much for clicking on my book, and I really hope you won't be disappointed! I am truly proud of this book, and regard it as my best so far. Here's just a few requests from myself before we begin.

Please read the my notes that I left at the end of each chapter. In some chapters, they explain continuity structure so that the reader does not get confused. In other words, some of them contain really important information, and it's also a nice place for me to put down my thoughts on the chapter.

Kudos are all well and good, and I would appreciate it so much if you gave one, but I care more about comments. Comments are fantastic and all are welcome apart from blatant hate. Hate comments will be disregarded and I will give twenty-four hours to take a hate comment down. Constructive criticism however, is completely welcomed. But honestly, comments make me laugh and smile, and I've met some amazing people through the comment section.

Also, my chapters are pretty long, and they can range from 2000 words to 5000 words depending on the significance of the chapter and the amount of events that I have to fit in. Of course, this also depends on your text and font size. But I try to keep the forty page chapters to a minimum, because I know that a lot of you read this stuff on the go. Most of my chapters are on the lower end of that spectrum.

I think that covers everything. Again, thank you for clicking on this book, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have writing it (even though a lot of tears were involved).

Thnx  
Smudgie xoxo


	2. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "From one root, many branches grow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore if it says anything more than Chapter 0 or if it has any formatting errors at the moment. I'm still getting used to using Ao3 at the time of writing this, hehe.

A quiet exhaustion fell over the transport ship and the Jedi younglings sprawled out on the chairs in the living quarters exchanged no words. A young Rodian trudged into the room as a slightly rusted but hardy droid shuffle its way out of the room muttering something about checking the hyperspace coordinates - their direct contact with the Temple - and took a seat next to a table before plodding her weapon onto the table. It was a sleek and elegant weapon, designed for precision. The signature weapon of the Jedi was constructed as a metal cylinder with various designs, depending on the user's preference. The six other younglings also either cradled theirs or held them close. After all, the elder Jedi had always said, "Never lose it. This weapon is your life."

And after the mission that they'd just endured, they understood why. The Gathering was notoriously difficult - it had to be. The younglings had to prove that they were worthy of their kyber crystals, and each had faced a different challenge inside the caves. Afterwards they had constructed their lightsabers aboard an ancient frigate. For all of the younglings, it was difficult. Manipulating the essence of the universe was no easy feat.

One of the younglings, a young human girl, about nine with dark hair in soft curls pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, and deep brown, intelligent eyes, observed the group. On her left, was a boy with blonde hair, spritely green eyes and a pale complexion, who was called Harver. He always carried an anxious energy with him, as if he was constantly pumped up on Toydarian junk food. His foot tapped against the leg of the table in front of him impatiently whilst to her right in stark contrast, was the Rodian that had walked in. She had light green skin and her star-filled eyes were wide and thoughtful. Her name was Xena, a quiet and shy youngling. She studied the form of Soresu, to match her personality, but was also easily the best pilot among the group. On Xena's right was one of the two Twi'lek's in the group, a species that was born with two tails that grew from their heads, otherwise known as lekku. One had tan skin, and was called Pyron. Like Xena, he was both reserved but also knew when to voice his opinions.

Then there was Linthra and Qui Drogmer, a Togruta and Mirilian. Linthra was clearly going to grow up to be a medic specialist, like her fellow Togruta Jedi, Shaak Ti. Her montrals were slightly petal shaped with her lekku barely skimming her shoulders and were pastel green before fading to a darker green at the tips, contrasting beautifully with her light cream skin. Her deep violet eyes were filled with knowledge and patience. Qui Drogmer however was quite different. Like his people, he had pale green skin with bright blue eyes. Black markings in the form of double straight lines ran from the corners of his mouth before sloping up and resting underneath his cheekbones and short raven hair flopped down onto his face. He had a confident air about him, the way that a strong leader has a presence, despite his youthful age.

Furthest from the dark haired human was a second Twi'lek, Orenu. Unlike Pyron, her lekku were placed further up her head and had a more elegant curve. Her figure was small and lithe, like a gymnast and her black irises melded with her dark grey skin in a moving shadow. Finally, there was the girl who observed the diverse group; Reina Tautaski. She had a relaxed composure, but also alert, as if waiting for something to go wrong at any time.

Suddenly, as if someone had flicked a switch, something changed in the air. A flare of danger was sent through the Force, resonating within each youngling as cold seeped into their bones, like the calm before a storm; both peaceful and eerie. Pyron, Xena and Reina rose from their seats, and the rest of the youngling straightened attentively, as if they were listening for something. All was silent for a few seconds before the ship gave a mighty lurch, sending all three of them sprawling.

"What's going on!?" Linthria yelled as the ship suddenly burst into sound and motion. Pistons could be heard moving through the venting systems and the ship creaked and rocked sickeningly.

"It sounds like we're being boarded!" Xena replied. "I'll get to the cockpit. Qui, come with me, I need a co-pilot!" Both younglings took off out the door before anyone could say anything to stop them. The rest of the children readied their weapons and five blades flashed to life: Harver and Orenu's blue ones, Linthria's green one, Reina's white and Pyron's orange. They backed up into a defensive circle, watching both entrances to the room.

"Why didn't they wait! Even if they get to the cockpit without whoever's boarding us seeing them, how are they gonna get us away?" Reina hissed.

I don't know, but I don't think that staying here is the best move. Let's get to the escape pods. I can call Xena and Qui back to them!" Orenu said frantically.

"Escape pods? What? No, we'll be sitting ducks and blasted to pieces! They're gonna fire at anything we launch and this ship only has two pods!" Pyron countered, waving his unusually coloured lightsaber around; a bright flame orange colour.

"We're gonna be blasted to pieces anyway at this rate! And besides, if all of the pirates are on our ship, then there won't be anyone around to man the gunners." Harver argued.

"That's a big 'if' Harver. What if they still have crew aboard?" Linthria stated. "Besides, if Xena and Qui Drogmar manage to get to the cockpit, maybe they can detach us!"

"What does it matter?" Reina said quietly. "They're already here? You can sense it too?" She asked, looking around for confirmation. They all paused before nodding gravely. "Call them back Orenu. We don't have much time."

What about KN-6?" Pyron asked, referring to the droid that had wandered off earlier. "He can contact the Temple!"

Linthria shook her head, responding "No! Reina is right! There's no time to look for him or to send a transmission."

Orenu nodded and relayed a message to Qui Drogmar and Xena before they took off through the halls of the shaking ship. They were almost at the escape pods when they heard voices on the hall to their left.

"This, is a Republic cargo ship you idiot! With a bit of luck we will find profit, _without_ some lightsaber wielding maniacs!" A Felucian accent rang through the halls and multiple footfalls could be heard.

Linthria's face dropped. "Oh, come on. We can't be that unlucky."

"Quiet. They can't know that we're here." Reina hissed. "Get to the escape pods." They crept straight ahead until they were at the escape pods where they met an anxious Xena and Qui Drogmar. The younglings were set on edge. If it was indeed who they thought it was aboard the ship, then they were in a very fragile situation.

"They've knocked out our navigation." Drogmar said frowning, his facial markings twisting into a frown. "And our hyperdrive."

Reina took a deep breath and gripped the hem of her tunic. Nothing about the young girl liked the idea of abandoning the ship but if a bunch of Weequay pirates were aboard and the tales she'd heard about them were true, then they didn't have a choice. None of the younglings were experienced enough with a lightsaber to block multiple blaster shots at once and she didn't want any of them to get hurt.

"Alright, in the escape pods." Reina ordered as calmly as she could, although everyone could hear an undertone of panic to her voice. After all, she was the eldest of the group and even then, she was only nine, and eldest by a few months.

Walking over to the second pod hatch, she tugged on the handle, but frowned when it didn't budge. Yanking it again, there was a loud clunk that sounded suspiciously like the lock jarring. Looking over to Linthria, she tried her pod and the hatch opened without a hitch. "Great." Reina muttered giving her escape pod a kick with her boot, ignoring the flare of pain that followed. "They must have disabled this one. Everyone in the first!"

They all rushed over to the working escape pod, but just as Reina was about to board, she hesitated, as an icy sheet if dread overwhelmed her instincts.

Harver looked up from the controls in the pod back at her, sensing her unease. "What's up Reina, we need to leave." He asked sharply.

Reina ran through a mental checklist of important things on the ship and soon found what she was looking for. "Drogmar, Xena, did you wipe the ship's navigation memory at all?"

Xena's face dropped as realised what Reina was thinking. "No. No, there's no time."

"It's too dangerous! What if they look in the logs!" The eldest countered.

Pyron stood up, irritated. "Care to let us in on the secret!?"

"Reina wants to go back and wipe the logs." Xena said, never breaking off eye contact with said youngling. "We've just got our crystals from Ilum _and_ visited the ship where every lightsaber has been made in the past century! If the pirates look at the navigation history, they'll know where both are!"

"What! Well... no. Reina, I understand your worry, but you can't. If we don't go now, we'll all be captured!" Orenu stressed. The others also voiced their concerns and Reina realised that they weren't going to leave without her. If she was going to wipe the logs, then she'd have to do it without their consent.

 _Nowhere_ was as sacred as a Jedi temple. They held the kyber crystals within their walls and resonated with the force on a mindblowing level. If the pirates were to find a temple and raid it or set up a mining operation, it would both be a humiliation and a dishonour to the Jedi. Although the other younglings understood this, they hadn't yet learned that the needs of the many, outweighed the needs of the few.

She was terrified but in that instance though, she knew exactly what choice she should make. She _had_ to make. If the pirates found the log, they could wait at the temple and ambush the next group of younglings. And the knowledge of their fate would be on Reina's hands for not doing what she had to.

She stepped into the escape pod and a breath of relief was almost audible from the other younglings. Harver flipped a lever and the pod hatch started to shut. Reina watched it begin to close before a surge of adrenaline pushed through her. Without a second thought, she dove back through the narrow sliver of space left between the rapidly closing door, feeling the cool metal brush her leg before slamming her fist onto the eject button. The hatch snapped shut and the pod jettisoned into space, with the younglings pounding on the hatch, looking back at her with betrayal.

Perhaps things would have turned out differently had her lightsaber not fallen from her belt when jumping out the escape pod and wasn't sailing away useless in an escape pod.

Reina knew that she had little time, so quickly took off towards the cockpit, not allowing herself time to wallow in her self pity. It didn't take her long to get there, although she nearly ran into some pirates on the way there and stumbled over KN-6, who appeared to have run into some already and wasn't as lucky. Looks like contacting the Temple was definitely off the table now. Stepping into the abandoned room, she ran to the dashboard of the ship, her fingers flying over the panel with ease as she accessed the logs. Deleting all of the history, she'd just pressed the wipe button when the doors behind her slid open.

"Well, well, well. I thought I saw someone back there!" The Felucian accent made Reina stiffen and turn around. She instinctively reached for a lightsaber that wasn't there. Surprised, she looked down to see it missing, but had no time to think about it. "You've managed to evade us for a while, considering you vanished from our scanners for a few hours due to luck from malfunctioning software, but all's well that ends well I suppose. Now the question is, what do we do with you." The young girl stepped back as far as she could, watching the pirate in front of her warily. Weequay pirates were no pushovers, some even capturing Jedi in the past. He scanned Reina up and down, probably trying to determine what a nine year old was doing on a Republic transport alone. "A child, alone on a ship?" Lifting up his blaster, he cocked it. "Who are you?" He asked coldly, lifting the blaster to her head.

The young girl's breath hitched as she froze in fear. Her muscles turned to lead and her throat tightened. Opening her mouth, she tried to speak, to say _anything,_ but nothing came out.

The pirate didn't seem satisfied with this answer. "Give me your name and why you're here and I _may,_ let you live." He threatened.

Forcing herself to swallow her fear, Reina managed to choke her words out. Heart thumping in her chest, she leaned closer slightly and hissed, " _Dierla sleemo._ "

She's probably just signed her death warrant cursing at him like that, as well as getting her mouth washed out with soap by the crèche matrons when she got back to the Temple, but if she was going to say anything to this pirate, it may as well be something to piss him off.

The man growled. "Fine. We'll do this your way." He spat, before lunging forwards and slamming the butt of his gun on her temple.

And everything went black.

~

"Sir we're picking up a ship on our scanners." The clone trooper called back to the man behind him.

Two younglings, a Padawan and a Jedi master stood in the cockpit of the small shuttle as they neared what remained of the Republic transport. Orenu and Linthria quickly leapt up and pointed at the smoking and sparking wreckage.

It was difficult to tell what part of the ship was what now. Holes had been torn in the hull, sections brutally ripped away, floating away gently in space. Areas still glowed molten from the attack. The ship had been completely decimated. If there was anyone left on board, it would be a miracle they were alive now.

"Master Kenobi, that's it! That's the transport!" The eight year old Togruta tugged on his sleeve, still having not let go of all of her childish demeanour slightly, but Obi-Wan Kenobi kept his cool.

"Scan for life forms." He ordered quietly. Anakin Skywalker stood at his side tensely. Anxiously, they waited to see if the lost youngling was aboard the ship.

"No life forms sir."

A slight silence hung in the air and one of the young girls choked back a small sob. Master Kenobi pressed his lips together, allowing himself a small moment to mourn Reina. He's known the youngling fairly well, often speaking with her at the Temple when he could, and giving her small lessons here and there. And now she'd made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the Ilum caves.

"Should we return to Coruscant?" The clone pilot asked.

Master Kenobi hesitated. Despite this expedition to the transport having been labelled as a rescue mission by the Council, the older Jedi had all known it was more likely to be a recovery. He didn't want to take the younglings aboard only for them to see Reina's body, if anything still remained of it.

Anakin cleared his throat and spoke up. "With all due respect Master, I think it's worth a look." He commented.

Obi-Wan remained silent for a moment, turning over Reina's freshly made lightsaber in his hands. It had been found in the escape pod that the younglings had come back in, and they had given it to Obi-Wan for safe-keeping before returning it to the Temple. It was a sleek durasteel design, with a leather wrapped grip and an angled hilt for precision. Reina had always struggled with lightsaber combat, so it would make sense that she would design it to aid her accuracy.

Debating for a moment, Obi-Wan frowned. "I trust your judgement Anakin. Dock us if possible."

"Yes, sir."

It wasn't that Obi-Wan didn't want to look for the young girl. He'd taken a liking to her when he'd met her. She was certainly an interesting youngling. Bold, but also measured and not hotheaded for the most part. And intelligent. It was the fact that he sensed no Force-signature on the ship. Or should he say, _next_ to no Force-signature. No-one wants to see the freshly killed body of a child.

A few minutes later, the ship was docked and locked into place. Whilst the younglings stayed on board, Master Kenobi and Anakin were in vacuum suits, as it was likely that the oxygen on board would have escaped. As the docking corridor opened, Kenobi tutted, seeing the state of the interior. The walls had been ripped open with the more valuable metal wiring stripped. Blast doors further down the hall had been cut through. These pirates had been equipped to handle a well defended ship.

"Did Reina say where she was going?" Anakin asked the older Jedi, his voice tinny through the vocaliser.

"According to the younglings, the cockpit. She was going to wipe the systems navigator memory." Kenobi replied, pulling himself along by the walls as his feet left the ground thanks to no gravity.

As they drifted through the charred remains of the ship, Kenobi was focused on the Force-signature. Although it was faint, it was still left on the ship. That puzzled the Jedi Master. Surely if the youngling was dead or dying, then it should be fading, not lingering like this. Unless it had only been a short while ago that they'd eventually taken her.

Eventually they reached the cockpit, the control panel had remained intact, although the ships power lost, and the two Jedi were forced to cut through the door. Anakin cursed quietly as they both saw the broken husk of the droid that had accompanied them, floating lifelessly in the vacuum. Using the Force to pull out the slab of cut metal, Obi-Wan realised that this was the room where the Force-signature was emanating from. The only problem was that there was nothing there _but_ a Force-signature. There wasn't even a hint.

At least, that's what he initially thought.

A flash of dark colour caught his eye as it contrasted against the stark grey and white of the floor, and his blood ran cold. There wasn't much of it, but spots of blood were splattered across the floor, like some ghastly piece of art. As Kenobi leant down, he looked to see if there was anything else that he had missed, but it truly seemed that this was their only clue.

Anakin looked up from the computer that he'd accessed. "Well, she accomplished her mission. All navi-computer memory is wiped. Permanently." He looked where his master was and stiffened. "Do you think she's-?"

"I don't know Anakin." Kenobi said straightening and looking out the smashed viewport. "I don't know."

And so they began to search. In fact, the search for the missing youngling went on for almost a year, but as more and more leads hit dead ends, they ran out of chances. It truly seemed that Reina was gone forever. The young human was assumed dead. The case was closed as killed in action and Reina's saber was stored in the Jedi Archives, with the weapons of other fallen Jedi, and her name faded to non-existence as life went on. But sometimes, Obi-Wan Kenobi would go down to the archives, and remember the young human, and something would whisper to him, telling him she wasn't dead.

And despite all of the facts and people telling him that she was, he never did.

**\----Author's Note----**

**Thank you for choosing to read my book! All of my readers are massively appreciated and I really hope you enjoy this book, especially as it took me so long to write!**

**This book was initially meant to be purely a prequel for another book,** _Road From_ **_Ruin,_ ** **but it's also manifested itself into a universe on it's own. As a massive fan of** **_The Clone Wars TV Series_ ** **, it's such great fun to write this and with incorporating fan favourites like Ahsoka and Kenobi and Anakin, I really enjoy it!**

 **Just to avoid any possible future confusement... wait, that's not a word...** **is it...** **why did I just write that?**

**I am so ashamed...**

***Take Two***

**Just to avoid any possible future** ** _confusion,_ ** **I'm not promising an update schedule.** **I will not stick to it.**

**Make sure to feel free to leave comments! Even if it's constructive criticism, random thoughts you may have or starting some random ship out of nowhere (yes, I know how you fangirls and fanboys work out there), I love to read the comments that my readers put! Not only do they make my day so much better, but they often make me laugh and smile, and I love interacting with my readers.**

**P.S. I do not own any Star Wars characters, locations or objects. All rights go to Lucasfilm/Disney. I only own OC's.**

**Ok, I'm just going to publish this now, because the word count is starting to break my phone.** ****

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	3. Act One

_"Heroes are made by the times. Sometimes, those times call for questionable heroes."_

_-Unknown_


	4. Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Once a mind is imprisoned, the fortress becomes impenetrable."

**Six Years Later...**

**???**

The dark haired girl paused as she snipped another flower. Looking up, the evening sky awash with orange and pink was slowly dissolving into a twilight of soft stars. The crimson sun sunk low beneath the horizon and two of the three moons of Zygeria were steadily climbing into the sky. The scene would have been almost peaceful if not for the hell of a world it belonged to.

She stood up amongst the palace gardens, rich and plentiful of blooming flowers and sweet fragrances. Her plain but tattered cream dress swished around her knees and bare feet were swollen, battered and scarred from years of treading on the coarse gravel underfoot. Her hair was fixed into two dutch braids that were now falling out with flyaways sticking out everywhere, and large, dark eyes spoke of mistrust and hesitation. To any onlooker, at first, she may look like a peasant from the streets. The reality was much worse.

She was a slave.

The only reason that she was generally clean was so she was not unappealing to the queen's eye, but upon closer inspection, the edges of the dress were frayed and coming apart, splitting and threads sticking out. Smudges and stains were visible, writhing the folds. An assortment of brown bruises covered her arms and a white scar was barely visible in the back of her neck, descending underneath the coarse material of the dress. And yet the sad truth was that Reina was in fact, ironically privileged. Each morning, she would wake up in the servant quarters to a measly bowl of suspicious looking gloop and a glass of water, and then would live off that for the rest of the day. Sometimes the next two days. Her servant clothes clung to her willowy frame: thin and brittle. Her ribs stuck out from beneath her skin and her face was pale and sallow from malnutrition and dehydration. There had been multiple times that she had started to hallucinate from lack of water. If she was any normal person, she would have broken a long time ago. She would have relented under the cruel grip of the Zygerian slave empire, but she was no ordinary person.

When she'd first been captured by the pirates, she'd still practised the ways of the Jedi and the Force feverishly. Everyday, she'd meditated, clearing her mind and staying in touch with the Code. It didn't mean that it worked, but she tried her hardest to stay selfless and calm. But when she'd got to Zygeria, she was forced to be selfish. She _had_ to take things for herself, to survive. She would never forgive herself for what she did to others to get to where she was now, and even when she looked at herself, she sometimes wondered what it was all for. When cutting flower clippings or attending to the gardens, she picked up metal rods used for helping plants stand upright and envisioned it as the lightsaber she had lost so long ago. Imaginary training bolts fired at her as she blocked, slashed and spun. But it wasn't enough. She strayed further and further from her past and the Jedi Code.

She had initially stretched and did small strength building exercises, but as time went on, motivation faded until she only did it once in a blue moon, and even when she did, she was playing a dangerous game. If the guards ever saw her rehearsing such things, she'd be whipped for treason against her masters. Still, when she did practice the same rituals that she had done in the Temple, a small part of her tugged at her heartstrings. The part aching to go home.

The young girl was conflicted. When she'd first been sold into the slave trade, her plan had been simple. Escape and get back to the Temple. But as time went on, she heard whispers of what the war was doing. New slaves that came in would say the Republic was corrupted and that the Jedi were no longer peace keepers. Then the war came, and the Jedi became generals. Collateral damage from the Republic became commonplace and planets were seized and put under intense security for the sake of scoring territory. It seemed that Reina's youth in the Temple had a rose coloured tint on it. The Jedi Order were very specific in who they let in the Temple and the Order. Would they really let Reina return? After all she could have been "corrupted" in her time as a slave. In a way, she supposed that was true. As a slave, her innocence had been ripped away and she'd been forced to grow up quicker. And more importantly, did she _want_ to go back?

Sighing, she shook herself out of her thoughts and cut the last flower before putting it with the rest of her arrangement. The last rays of sun slipped beyond the horizon. Walking back into the palace, she knocked on the queen's door.

"Enter." A rich, clipped voice said. Reina pushed open the large golden door with the flowers under one arm.

"Your fresh flowers, Your Highness." The young girl said, trying to keep her tone level as she bowed. The tall Zygerian queen turned away from her mirror and the Twi'lek slave brushing her hair paused. She was beautiful, in a harsh, regal way. Vibrant green eyes contrasted with her pale pink skin, and locks of hair were pulled back behind her pointed ears perfectly. A long, rich and no doubt expensive gown hung off her flawless frame and her back was ramrod straight, a picture of the highest power.

"Put them in the vase and get rid of the old ones slave. Then prepare my clothes for bed." She barked coldly.

Through gritted teeth, Reina nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness." Walking over to the vase, she removed the still pristine flowers from yesterday and threw them down the garbage chute. Putting the fresh flowers in and arranging them so the red and white ones were to the left side of the vase, she turned back towards the bed. The queen's room was arranged in a T-shape. The vertical part of the T was the entrance hallway with the bed in the top left area, curtained off by long rich red drapes. The high vaulted ceiling towered above her head as she pushed the heavy drapes aside. Allowing them to fold shut behind her, she went onto autopilot as she allowed her thoughts to wander.

Whilst shutting the curtains over the large windows, she got a fleeting glimpse of the outside world; empty streets with large stone buildings and soft golden lights glowing in windows. She wished she was outside in the gardens again, with the soft breeze the only thing offering a taste of freedom. It had been so long since she was free, she'd forgotten was it was like. She only had vague memories of the Temple of which she once stayed in and the Masters with it. She remembered it had always been peaceful, and one memory that had stuck was the dawn over Coruscant. The planet city was always heaving and bustling, but that morning when she'd looked out the window, everything seemed to zone out and she remembered a strong feeling of peace wash over her as the first rays of dawn hit her face. She smiled faintly at the memory. But even that morning, she'd known that the galaxy was anything but peaceful. For last year, the result of years of civil unrest within the Galactic Senate boiled over into a raging maelstrom that pummeled every corner of civilisation.

The Clone Wars.

A vicious conflict between the Grand Republic and the Separatist Confederacy Of Independent Systems. There were only certain things she remembered about the temple, like the gravel of Master Yoda's voice and the looming figures of the elders. But the other thing the young slave remembered was that everything got more intense. The Jedi Masters constantly looked troubled, the Temple often next to deserted because of rising conflict. Whispers of insurgency rising on once peaceful worlds slipped into meditation practice. Suddenly Padawans were being graduated earlier, and more focus started being put towards combat skills. No-one said it - the younglings even didn't quite understand it - but when the war broke out and the Republic split, cleaved in half by politics, it came as little surprise.

She quickly made the queen's bed and laid out her nightclothes; smooth silk that felt like clouds beneath her weathered, dry fingertips. Savouring the feeling, she laid them out on the sheets and made sure there were no creases. Then sighing, she walked back through the drapes and bowed once again to the queen.

"Dismissed." The queen said coldly and Reina bowed again before exiting the room. She was on her way back to her quarters when she heard a loud cry from a corridor off to her right. Frowning, she mentally ran through a map of the palace in her head. The detention blocks were in an entirely separate building, yet the cry had definitely been of pain. Then, yelling echoed through the halls as the Zygerian language spoke harshly, scolding someone for being such a fool. The crack of a whip made Reina jump and she moved on quickly, leaving the now screams behind her. Momentarily, her eyes welled up but she brushed the tears away just as fast. There was no room for pity in slavery.

If you protected yourself, you were whipped. If you protected others besides your masters, you were whipped. Reina had learnt that lesson fast when she'd first arrived.

All slaves were put into processing when first arriving into the slavery empire. Processing was often held in different systems as to avoid attracting attention from the Republic who had long banned slavery, but in short it was brutal, painful and everything was designed to break one's spirit. Often, slaves were sent to work in mines; backbreaking work that often shattered a slave's will to live. Hot caves deep underground, where thick smog and ash settled in the slaves' lungs and you were whipped if you dared to speak with someone. When Reina had come out of processing, her spirit wasn't broken, but she had returned with a nice selection of nightmares - memories haunting her under the cover of darkness. The first few times, she'd slept a little closer to her friend who'd been brushing the queen's hair earlier.

Thea was a beautiful Twi'lek with a fighting spirit; one of the only ones who made it through processing with their sanity intact. She had evergreen skin and wore a headpiece over her lekku and was a couple of years older than Reina. She was also one of the queen's personal slaves.

She took Reina under her wing and showed her the ropes; how to get into the queen's slave faction as opposed to remaining in the mines. She showed her how to smuggle things in and out of the palace and together, they had planned for a long time to escape together and go back to Raada for a while, Reina's home planet. Reina had told the Twi'lek about it's open grassy fields and quiet farms from the few childhood memories that she had and Thea instantly took to it.

Reina had told Thea about her Force-sensitivity and there had been numerous times when Thea had covered up for Reina when she was missing because she was injured or had been practicing her ways in the Force and had lost track of time. The fifteen year old trusted Thea with her life.

Walking back towards the slave quarters, Reina watched the palace start to transform, becoming more tattered and old. Forbid the day that the Queen would ever set foot in this wing of the palace. Grand halls and large windows vanished and were replaced with barred windows and heavy metal doors, many of which were padlocked. Her stomach growled as she passed the locked kitchen, but she ignored it until she reached the servant quarters.

The quarters were a crude excuse for a room to say the least. To room was a long narrow one, with concrete walls, floors and ceilings, like a coffin. The air was stale and in front of her lay rows and rows of wide metal shelves, also known as where the slaves slept. A door to the right of the room entered an even smaller room, with a single toilet in there and a sink. Not that the slaves could drink water from the sink though without poisoning themselves. It was mixed with antiseptic, so if any slaves had cuts on their hands, it would stop their wounds from getting infected so they could continue working, and it stopped them from drinking from it. The sink itself had a clear dome fixed over the top with two holes only wide enough for hands. They'd put that on a couple of years back when someone had chosen to take their life. Reina had never used that sink since, and washed her hands when she went to pick up the Queen's food in a morning in the kitchens.

On each shelf was a pair of grey shorts and t-shirts, many torn and covered in grime. On the wall furthest away from Reina was a series of cubbyholes. Inside each was a change of clothes for the next day, often tatty and rotated around the slaves, and a pair of bobbles for the female human slaves to tie hair back with so if they had lice, then it would minimise the chance of the Queen catching them. Showers came about once a month as a luxury and they were always freezing.

Climbing onto her own shelf she sighed in relief and let the stiff muscles in her back relax and exhaustion washed over her, before repeating the same routine she'd done for the past years of her life. Getting dressed for bed before any of the boys came in, she quickly changed into her grey nightclothes. Putting a hand on her ribs, she winced as she felt her ribcage stick out from underneath her skin. She hated it. She was so stick thin, it was borderline on painful.

Just then, Thea walked in, apparently done with brushing the queen's hair. Collapsing on her own bunk across from Reina's she placed a hand on her forehead and heaved out a sigh through her nose.

Swinging her legs over the edge of her shelf, the young teenager asked, "Tough day?"

Thea laughed sourly as she got changed. "You have _no_ idea. Apparently, they're going to cut down on my food. I'm too fat." Reina snorted. She supposed she could see why they thought that. Thea was gifted with a slow metabolism unlike Reina, and when you're getting fed once a day, a fast metabolism is the _last_ thing you want to be born with. Thea's metabolism meant she put slightly more weight on than the rest of the slaves, and this fact hadn't escaped the Zygerian royalty and guard.

"Well, not all of us can be as fat as you." Reina teased prodding her own stomach with had no food in it, let alone fat. Thea snorted as it rumbled in protest.

"What time is it?" Thea asked.

"Ten to eleven according to the clock in the east wing. I saw it on the way back." Reina replied.

"I suppose you heard the screams too?" The Twi'lek asked gravely, and Reina's expression became somber.

"Yeah." She muttered. "Any idea who it was?"

"No clue. But I know that Yulia was meant to be working in the east wing today."

Reina pressed her lips together. "I hope this damn place burns to the ground one day." She muttered venomously.

"So does everyone Reina. So does everyone. Have you practiced at all lately?" Thea asked, sitting up.

"What's the point?" Reina shrugged. She didn't know why Thea bothered asking anymore, but she still quizzed her regularly. Thea gave her a side-eye. "It's true isn't it? It's not like I'm going anywhere, so it's useless." Huffing in annoyance, she plonked herself on the lowest bunk.

Thea, walked over to her cubbyhole. "Well, at least _you_ aren't useless. You make killer flower arrangements."

Reina glared at her whilst Thea merrily ignored her.

"Kidding." Thea rolled her eyes and then frowned as she looked at the clothes laid out for tomorrow. "Have you heard anything about anyone important visiting tomorrow?"

Reina frowned, standing up. "No, why?" She walked over to Thea's cubbyhole and did a double take. "Whoa." She stated blinking.

"I know." Thea said, pulling out her clothes for tomorrow. It was a one piece, tight bodysuit, with long sleeves and legs, coloured dark blue with a plunging neckline and lace detail. A gold choker was laid with it as well as a deep pink headpiece to go around her lekku. Almost comically nicer than their usual clothes. Reina ran through a list of events that was happening in the month mentally and soon curled her lips in distaste as she landed on what was happening tomorrow.

"The slave auction. The queen has to look her wealthiest." The young Jedi spat.

Thea pulled a sour face and put the clothes back like they were radioactive. "What about you? Have you got special clothes?" Reina walked over to her cubbyhole and sure enough, she had beautiful clothes too. Almost beautiful enough to hide the ugliness and darkness of slavery. It was a sleeveless soft cream top with violet jewels sewn into the collar and a high neckline. A matching skirt that stopped just above her knee was also laid with it. It had a cream belt with heavy violet and white designs in the fabric and jet black leggings to went underneath. A pair of leather sandals were laid with them. She too had a gold choker and bracelets as well as a pot of golden beads were left, most likely to braid into her hair.

"Looks like I'm gonna be there too." Reina said sourly.

Many would expect the slaves to be happy to wear nice clothes and have shoes, but it was the furthest thing from the truth. Every slave hated the two slave auctions of the year. There was always one in the winter and one in the summer. The clothes were not meant to make them look nice. It was to mock the slaves. To tease them with the life they _could_ have, to make them look like children playing dress-up, trying to fit into a place of which they didn't belong. The only good thing out of the day was the fact that they got shoes to protect their feet. And that was it.

A couple of other slaves stumbled in and Thea and Reina exchanged looks. It was better they left this conversation be. After all, why talk about it when they could experience it tomorrow?

Reina settled down on her shelf and pulled the thin sheet over her, even though it failed to keep the heat in. As she drifted off though, a familiar sense enveloped her, one that she hadn't felt to this extent since six years ago. Ice settling over her instincts, igniting the desire to run far away.

That alone kept her up until the early hours of dawn.

**\----Author's Note----**

**Welp, another chapter down. I must admit, this one was mainly expositional, so more actual character development and life from them in the next.**

**But welcome to our favourite planet from the Clone Wars, Zygeria (no sarcasm whatsoever). Buckle up and get your pitchforks ready, because I am on a mission to induce some hella hate.**

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	5. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Resolve is only born from great change"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Suicide

**REINA TAUTASKI**

I should have known that there was a catch with the clothes. Holding the choker at an arm's length, I was reluctant to put it around my neck as I inspected the inside of the metal jewellery. It was almost cute that the Zygerians didn't think we'd notice.

It was a shock collar.

An upgraded model none the less. How touching to know that they cared so much. Thea unfortunately had already put her own on before realising and was now struggling to try and remove it.

"Have I... mentioned..." She grunted whilst pulling at the jewellery clasp in vain. "How much I... absolutely... hate those... slavers?" She huffed before giving up and planting herself on her bunk.

"Numerous times." I said flatly, glaring at the choker as if it would start disintegrating. I knew I couldn't leave without it on or I'd be punished for "disobeying the wishes of my superiors". That had happened before, and I wasn't anxious to repeat the experience.

"I hate this place so much." I muttered foully before taking a deep breath and fastening it around my neck. As the lock clipped, it jammed. I gave it a tug and sure enough, it was stuck fast.

Sighing, I adjusted my skirt before nodding to the door. "I guess we shouldn't keep Her Majesty waiting." I said dryly. Thea rolled her eyes (a common occurrence with her) and walked over to the door and into the hall with me.

"Are we due in the throne room like normal?" I asked and Thea shrugged. There was a regular schedule that all the slaves stuck to, but I wasn't sure wether it had changed due to the arrangements for the slave auction.

"I think so. There wasn't anything to tell us that the schedule had changed."

I snorted. "Like that would stop them finding someone to blame."

"Touché." She nodded, although her heart didn't seem to be in the back and forth banter that they normally shared.

Nudging her gently, I furrowed my brow. "Are you feeling ok? You're a little quiet."

Thea blinked as if coming out a trance and shook her head, a smile on her face once again. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

I decided not to press. Morale was low on slave auctions. Talking only made it worse. After all, all of the queen's slaves were handpicked from the slave auctions, and we only knew all too well how it was to walk out into that arena under the beating sun, fresh from processing and the crowd's boos and jeers so deafening that you get tinnitus for a week.

My thoughts aside with a small shake of my head, we walked the rest of the way to the throne room in silence. When we did get there, we took our places at either side of the throne and waited for the queen's arrival, just like every other morning, but the feeling that had haunted me last night was back, and stronger than ever.

The palace was no sanctuary for me, but nevertheless, it was very hard to get things in and out of the castle walls without anyone noticing. It made little sense that there would be danger close to me, especially with the security being ramped up for the slave auction. So why was this feeling of danger here?

The throne room was grand, just like the rest of the palace, but ironically quite small for what you'd expect. It was a long rectangular hall with multiple bay windows protruding from the right side. Exotic plants spilled from wall basins high up and a blood red carpet ran down the centre of the room to a raised dais with steps up to it. Upon the top was a regal throne in front of a beautiful stained glass window, washing the floor in a haze of multicoloured light. Chandeliers cascaded from the ceiling, glass droplets hanging from their brass frames. The hall, although on the small side had everything a throne room should and more.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as the doors to the throne room opened and the queen entered. Automatically, everyone in the room bowed and dared not to get up until at least ten seconds had passed. The Zygerian queen looked flawless as usual. She was wearing a sweeping green gown with a heavy gold collar and choker that covered a large portion of her long neck. The crown of Zygeria, a headband that went across the forehead and had three spikes with diamonds rising out the top at the front rested on her carefully arranged hair. As she took her place on the throne wordlessly, her pet birds came and rested on her shoulders.

They were small creatures, owl-like, called convors. They had large eyes and hooked beaks with a smooth skin making a mask like shape around the eyes. They all came in a variety of colours but the queen's were mainly pink and green.

And so the day commenced. The morning was fairly normal, with suitors and businessmen flurrying in and out of the throne room, making propositions and bringing news, but none of which was important or interesting. Lots and lots of talking commenced that no-one but the queen could possibly care about. At one point, a messenger came into the room and rushed up to the queen, hastily bowing before whispering something in her ear. Straining my ears, I caught the name, 'Bruno Dentouri' before the messenger finished what he was saying, but just the name alone was enough to get me interested. Thea looked over in surprise at me, so I assumed that she had heard the name as well, if not more.

I had once been subjected to an extremely... _heartfelt_ speech about the arrogance of Bruno when I had been brushing the queen's hair as she ranted on and on about how much she wanted him to be killed. I recalled mentally laughing at the time. I had wanted to kill _myself,_ the queen was going on so much. But despite the queen's obvious sour face she pulled after the messenger left, she said no more about it, and I soon fazed out and lost interest.

The queen was just talking (or ordering - the two verbs had become difficult to tell apart now) to Thea about the arrangements for the slave auction when the massive double doors at the end of the hall opened. Four figures stood in the doorway: a tall human man with a beat up blue R2 unit and a girl Togruta, judging from the shape of what probably were her montrals underneath her black cloak, all escorted by no other than Prime Minister Atai. I perked up. If the Prime Minister was here then maybe something interesting was finally going to happen.

The queen continued to speak with Thea, probably just to rub it in the guest's faces that she was in no hurry to talk with them. "Make sure all the preparations are complete for this evening." She then decided to glance at her visitors before adding, "And bring refreshments."

Thea bowed and gave me a weird look. I frowned questioningly at her but the queen waved her away before she could drop any more hints. As Thea left, I turned her attention to the people in front of the throne.

"My Queen." Atai said, bowing deeply. "I present, Lars Quell." He gestured to the man who was dressed in traditional Zygerian slaver armour. It was strange that he was wearing the armour despite not being Zygerian.

The queen sat back and stroked one of her birds. "Hmm. So you're the man who claims to be aquatinted with Bruno Dentouri?" She asked calmly, but after spending six years as her slave (well, five technically. I spent the first year in processing), I could see her rage boiling underneath her calm demeanour. This man was either brave or stupid to come here after telling the queen that.

"Yes, your majesty." The human removed his helmet. "However, when I spoke with him, he failed to describe your beauty." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Many commoners tried to catch the queen's eye through flattery. It wasn't that this man was bad looking as such. In fact, many would consider him as handsome. He was well built and muscular, with rugged features, only marred by a scar that ran over his right eye, but even so, the queen was rarely if ever wooed.

The queen chuckled softly. "Really? And did Bruno speak of my intense hatred of him?" Atai raised his blaster to Lars's head. "Or did that escape his memory as well?" She spat.

I expected him to immediately freeze up with the prospect of having his brains blown from his head, yet Lars simply lifted a finger and pushed the barrel of the blaster down, completely unfazed by it. "He needed not speak of it your majesty. In fact, Bruno Dentouri will not be speaking. Ever again." He said, tone turning dark.

The queen sat forwards. "What do you mean?"

"Bruno Dentouri is dead. By my hand." I did a double take at that. He may have looked strong for a human, but even so, Zygerians were renowned for their strength. Nevertheless, Lars was undeterred. "Here is a slave from his palace." He gestured towards the girl behind him. "Compensation for my efforts." Grabbing the cloak, he pulled it off the girl and as I had suspected, she was a Togruta.

I could see now that she was about my age, fifteen. She had tan skin with white markings on her face, defining her brows and cheekbones and bright, alert, azure blue eyes. Her montrals and lekku were striped white and blue but had heavy gold jewellery adorning them with an emerald and gold chain handing between her eyes. She wore a sky blue top, skirt and fingerless gloves as well as gold threaded into the top and skirt hemline. That struck me as was odd. Bruno must have looked after his slaves better than the queen did because this girl looked well kept. She was well in shape, but didn't look underfed. She reminded me of how one of the female Jedi Masters would look.

_Either way, the queen'll be pleased._

"Unhand me brigand!" The young Togruta ripped her arm out of Lars's grip.

 _Or not,_ I corrected dryly. The girl had too much fire for the queen's taste, but her looks may be able to make up for it. The poor girl would probably have to go to processing though.

The queen rose from her throne and I reluctantly got on my hands and knees again along with the rest of the room, besides from Lars and his slave. Lars seemed to notice this and pushed his slave down to bow by the shoulder. "You impress me Lars Quell. She's quite a prize. And to have defeated Bruno Dentouri in combat?" Everyone rose from their bows. "You must be quite the warrior." The queen circled the Togruta, nodding as she examined her. "The slave is of fine stock. Bruno always knew how to choose a beautiful female." The queen said trailing a hand on the girl's arm. I resisted the urge to gag.

Instantly the girl jerked away. "Don't you dare touch me!" She challenged and for a few seconds, a battle of the wills seemed to take place as they stared each other down. Finally, the queen broke off her glare.

"Though she will have to be processed. Her demeanour leaves much to be desired, but that can be easily fixed. It isn't as if we haven't done it before." She looked over at me purposefully as she said that and I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from saying something that I'd regret. "What is your price for her?" The queen asked, stroking her bird that was still perched on her shoulder.

"With respect," Lars bowed slightly, before continuing. "How can I price the beauty of this slave when in the magnificence of your highness, who's beauty would make the brightest star seem dull by comparison?" I held back a snort as I spotted the Togruta roll her eyes at this.

The queen did not get flushed, but instead simply chuckled softly. "Lars Quell. You flatter me." She said.

"No, your majesty. However..." Lars leaned forwards and whispered something into her ear. I expected the queen to scold him and send him away for doing so without permission, but to my surprise, she started... giggling? Yes. The Zygerian queen was giggling.

"Lars, stop it. Stop it!" She batted his hand away from her ear lightly before poking his shoulder. "You are a bold one, aren't you."

"My reputation proceeds me then."

The queen seemed to think for a moment, which must have been a chore for her. "Perhaps we can find a way to put a price on your slave. Come." She held out her hand for him to take. "Walk with me. Follow slave." I scowled as she ordered me around like an anoobah, but I noticed her finger hover dangerously close to the shock button in her pocket, so did as she said.

It didn't stop me from muttering a string of Zygerian curses though.

~

After giving Lars a torturously long tour of the palace, him and the queen were talking on the top balcony of the palace whilst the Togruta girl, Thea and I were stood back, although sometimes me and Thea were waved forwards for food or drinks.

"Slavery is the natural order of things." Thea went forwards and they both took a drink, completely ignoring Thea, of course. As she stepped back, we exchanged irritated looks. The queen purposefully waited until slaves were around to talk about subjects like this, just to remind us of how powerless we were. "The weak deserve nothing more than to kneel before the strong, bound to our service. I will need men with your, er, talents, to spread our ways across the galaxy." I frowned at this.

Although the Zygerian slave empire had been increasing in power, I'd thought that they wanted to keep it under the radar, as so the Jedi wouldn't finish the place off for a second time. I looked over to Thea but she was fixated of glaring on the queen. I saw her slip something quietly out from under her platter and momentarily, I wondered what she was doing. Until it dawned on me.

Before I had a chance to yell out for her to stop, Thea had raised the knife and with a shout, charged to stab the queen. And she would have too, if Lars hadn't been there. Almost unnaturally fast, he caught Thea's wrist and took the knife from her grasp.

"Let me go!" She ripped her arm from him, but lost her balance in her panic and fell backwards.

The queen stepped forwards, eyes flashing murderously. "You dare raise a hand against your master!? Clearly, you require further processing."

Fear sparked in Thea's eyes as she clambered backwards towards the edge of the balcony. I couldn't take it anymore. Surging forwards, I tried to stop her as I realised what she was thinking, but hands secured themselves around my arms and held me back.

"Thea, don't! Don't do it!" I yelled, pulling against the guards, gaining some headway.

"No! I won't go back there!" She yelled angrily as she climbed onto the ledge. She looked down behind her.

Lars seemed to catch on to what she was about to do. "Wait, stop!"

Time slowed down. Her body tipped off the edge. I faintly remembered screaming. Screaming Thea's name as I tore away from the guards. But before all of that, she looked at me one last time, and a moment passed between us. Wether it was pain, understanding or what, I don't know. But a surge of raw emotion rushed through me, wrenching my heart from where it should be, as I knew it was too late.

She was gone.

I collapsed on the balcony as a knife seemed to dig into my heart when I saw Thea's broken body on the balcony below. All was quiet for a second as the reality settled on the small group on the balcony. I didn't cry. Crying wouldn't bring her back. Slowly, I rose, turning to the queen. The queen who had torn my life apart. Who had torn countless lives apart.

"You did this." I said quietly. Then suddenly, rage overwhelmed me and I lunged for the queen before the two guards caught me again. "You're a monster! A killer! Slaver _sleemos_ like you are a waste of space!!!" I cursed and anger erupted from me but I didn't care. All I saw was red. The red of the queen's blood.

The queen quickly ordered for me to be taken away and I was dragged by my shoulders all the way back to the slave quarters again. Once I was shoved in there, I sank to the floor as the doors locked behind me. I felt numb. It was as if someone had punched a hole right where my feelings should be. I just sat there and mourned. Mourned for what my life had become. I wasn't sure how long I was there for. Maybe minutes, more likely hours. But I didn't move. I didn't cry and I didn't make a sound. I was frozen in the grief that had clutched my heart when Thea had leapt over the edge. Part of me wanted to follow her and to take the easy route. I closed my eyes.

_Reina._

My head snapped up and I scanned the room. Thea's voice still echoed, curling through the air, but as reality hit me, I knew she wasn't there. I'd just seen her corpse.

And I broke.

It began as a few silent ones, but now, I couldn't do anything without thinking about her broken form on the balcony beneath. My body went into shock as I began to deny it. Why me? Thea was so much stronger. I should have been the one to die. Why hadn't I seen the signs? I knew she wasn't right this morning! My body began to shake as sobs ripped themselves from my throat unwillingly, racking my body until I looked like a victim of hypothermia.

Anger bubbled up with frustration and resentment. This couldn't be happening. Not here, not now. I was mad at so much. The queen, Lars Quell, but most of all myself. What was the point in having the "gift" of the Force when you couldn't even use it to help someone? But the one thought that repeatedly accompanied all of these was simply one word, one single, painful, heart wrenching word that described my entire existence.

_Failure._

Slinking further down against the wall, I didn't bother to wipe the tears away. I was tired. Tired of being stuck in this violent rut, with pain and conflict around every corner. Tired of being called worthless and useless by the slavers. Tired of _feeling_ worthless and useless. But slowly, although the tears kept falling, a ball of malice was building up inside me, like pressure waiting to be released. And the anger fuelled my plan.

Ever since we'd met, me and Thea had planned to escape. To pull a runner one day and go to Raada, start afresh, leave our slave pasts behind. We'd spent five years smuggling things into the palace piece by piece. A ration bar here. An old jacket there. Stuff from the outside world that had seen more things than I had. We'd both known the plan when the time had come, but now, the plan was going to have to change. Now Thea was gone, there was nothing here for me anymore.

Today, I would either escape, or die.

**\----Author's Note----**

**Ah, yes, I forgot to mention. Unless you hadn't figured it out by the prologue, there will be P.O.V switches in this, so you're gonna want to pay attention to those unless you don't want to get eternally lost...**

**Anyway, surprise, Thea died... unless you watched** **_Slaves Of The Republic_ ** **... then it wasn't a surprise.**

 **Yup, so Thea is the slave who commits suicide in** **_Slaves Of The Republic,_ ** **and she was always going to die, but I have to admit, I did feel kind of bad for my own character in that last part there.**

**Jk, I'm a heartless author who tortures my characters as an uncaring god (or would I technically be a goddess?) over the galaxy.**

**There used to be a whole section of this chapter that involved Thea appearing as a ghost and talking with Reina, and the whole point was that Thea wasn't Force-sensitive, so obviously couldn't appear as a Force ghost, so Reina was seeing dead people, but it was so far-fetched and cringey dialogue that I just got rid of it.**

**The script is just about identical to the one from the actual episode, and that's because I spent** **_two hours_ ** **writing up the arc, word for word. My fingers hurt afterwards. The only differences are where Reina has interjected or we needed to be reminded that she was there, because she doesn't have much involvement in this chapter, or at least not in the first half.**

**Please don't be a silent reader guys. Tell me what you think! What can I do better ect.**

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	6. Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The reach of a pebble is immense, through the ripples it creates."

**REINA TAUTASKI**

After I'd pulled myself together, I steeled myself for the rest of the day. I knew that the queen would want me with her at the slave auction, to remind me of her power, although she would undoubtedly have guards with her as well in case I attacked her again.

Sure enough, I was proven correct when two guards arrived to escort me to the auction. Slowly getting up from my shelf, I glanced around the room before finally settling my gaze on Thea's bunk. This would be the last time that I saw it. Walking out into the hall, I gritted my teeth as one of the guards shoved me in the back with his staff painfully, but kept my mouth shut.

_It's almost over, it's almost over._

It was that chant that kept me walking, and that chant alone. One way or another, I _had_ to believe that this would be my last day here as a slave. I _had_ to believe that tomorrow, I would be able to taste freedom again, after so long. If I hadn't told myself that this would end one day all these years, I would have ended up like Thea a long time ago.

Harsh, burning sunlight streamed in through the windows as late afternoon came around, and the temperature in the palace had escalated since the morning. It was days like these that I despised, when the muggy air seemed to choke you, making you feel as if you aren't getting enough oxygen. Mind you, it was just on of the many things I hated about this place.

A couple of minutes later, a low roar became loud enough to be noticeable and continued to raise in volume until we came to a stop outside a white painted set of double doors. And I knew exactly who and _what_ was behind them. Pushing them open reluctantly, I exhaled heavily through my nose.

On the other side of the room was a balcony that overlooked the pit where the slave auction was to be held; a dismal place where the unfortunate were sold to cruel owners. The queen's viewing box itself however, was very nice. The right wall of the room was covered in monitors, all showing different angles of a sunken pit, presumably from probes down there. The room was filled with flora of all types and the queen had a lavish throne to lounge in whilst the less appealing slaves were auctioned off. Expensive decorations were either hung or placed around the room, and I flinched slightly as I saw a whip laid on the balcony ledge. Lars Quell stood to the queen's right, with his Togruta slave to her left side.

"My queen. Your servant has arrived." Said one of the guards escorting me.

Without looking back, the queen simply replied, "And she hasn't tried to copy her friend?"

"No, my lady." I gritted my teeth, resisting the urge to strangle her.

"Stand to the side, slave scum. Observe."

Trying to stop my face from twisting into a scowl, I walked over the the right side of the room, next to Lars Quell. Looking over the balcony, I saw the auction pit, not that it had changed from past years. It was a large square arena with a dirt floor, sunken deep into the ground. In the centre was a red stone dais where the slaves were to be displayed and sold on to the highest bidder. This time I did scowl. It was disgusting. A tall Zygerian man walked out of one of the entrances to the pit, a staff in hand as he waved to the audience. Climbing onto the platform, he spoke.

"Your Highness! Zygerians, guests from a thousand worlds, our auction begins with slaves of unmatched quality and impossible quantity!" Gesturing behind him, the doors to the pit opened again, and a middle aged Togrutan man was pushed out, clutching his side. "I give you a Togruta, from the Kiros system!" A roar of delight ripped through the crowd as he stumbled towards the dais, shielding his eyes from the sun. I swallowed hard, remembering when I had been in his position, being sold to high-class scum from across the galaxy.

I heard the Togrutan girl to my left mutter, "Oh no." I winced, guessing that it must have been hard for her to see her people like this.

The announcer continued. "This handsome slave represents a lot of numbering! No less, than fifty-thousand unmarked credits!" I started and looked at the man again. Although he looked like any old Togruta, he must have some good background if he was selling for that much. "Forced into compliance easily and untrained in combat, there will be no resistance from these slaves!"

Lars turned to the queen. "So," He asked casually. "Where do you keep fifty thousand slaves, like the people of Kiros?"

Fifty- _thousand?_ I knew that the slave empire would often take large amounts of people at at time to enslave, but fifty-thousand could be the population of a small planet!

Before the queen could answer, Prime Minister Atai walked into the room. Bowing briefly, he addressed the queen. "Your Majesty, I have urgent news." Muttering something into the queen's ear, she waved him away. The Togruta girl walked around the back of the queen's throne to stand behind her master.

"All will be revealed in time." The queen told Lars before rising from her seat and approaching the balcony. Her booming voice rang through the auction, even without the use of a microphone. "Before we begin the auction, I would welcome a most special guest!" But now, the entire crowd had fallen into a hushed and tense silence, waiting fir whatever the queen was about to announce. "Obi-Wan Kenobi! Jedi Knight!" I started and stared at the queen, trying to figure out if she was kidding. Unfortunately, the queen rarely joked. What in the galaxy was Kenobi doing here of all places!? No. Maybe they had it wrong. Maybe it was just another person who happened to have the same name. But sure enough, the light brown hair of Obi-Wan was unmissable. The Jedi Master who I'd looked up to through all of my childhood was stood in front of me in a shock collar and chains. The queen continued as the crowd booed and the Togrutan man was taken to the side. "My friends! My good friends! Do not fear the Jedi! They are no different than from others that we have forced into submission, for they have forsaken their ideals to serve a corrupt Senate! Every Jedi has become a slave to the Republic! The Jedi Order is weak, and we will held break it!" She finished triumphantly, earning a large cheer from the crowd. Picking up a whip from a table, she turned and handed it to Lars. "Teach the Jedi his place."

I prayed that he would say no. Refuse to beat my mentor, but as he smiled darkly and left, my heart crawled into my throat. Within the next two minutes, Kenobi was forced onto his knees and Lars stood behind him, whip in hand. The crowd cried out for him to be whipped and I watched anxiously.

The queen spoke again. "Prove to me that you are a slaver! Swing that whip, or die beside him!

Lars looked up. "You leave me no choice, Highness!" He said, activating the whip. Flame orange electricity flickered through it, reminding me painfully of Pyron's lightsaber. I frowned as I found myself thinking of him. It was unusual. I never really thought of the other younglings, mostly because I didn't like to. I wondered wether they knew if one of their Council members was a slave right now. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I observed as Lars saluted to the queen. And then, he did something that I wouldn't have expected him to do in a million years.

He attacked the guards.

Using the whip, he knocked the one of the guard's blasters out of his hands and Kenobi rolled to the side, Force-pushing him and giving him a free flying lesson. Suddenly, my senses screamed at me to move and I ducked just in time to avoid being smacked in the head by two flying lightsabers. Whipping around, I saw the R2 unit prepare to eject a third from it's top. Lars caught the two laser swords.

"Guards!" The queen was furious. "Subdue them!"

Lars threw Kenobi's lightsaber to him and ignited his own as the guards started firing their blasters. I marvelled as they deflected bolts easily and something about Lars's fighting style seemed familiar. From a Jedi that I'd only seen in battle once before, but before I had time to out the pieces of the puzzle together in my head, one of the halls on the left wall of the pit erupted in flames, stone flying in all directions. I quickly realised that Lars and his buddies had help. I heard scuffling behind me and turned to see the Togruta girl grab Atai's arm and judo flip him. I couldn't help but wince as he came down on the floor hard. The guards brought their blasters up and started firing but were too late. By then, the R2 unit had ejected a third lightsaber of which she'd caught, and quickly deflected the blaster bolts back at them, killing both instantly. Turning around quickly, she placed her blade to the queen's neck and I backed away into the corner by the door.

As the chaos continued to erupt around me, I suddenly realised that this was the opportunity I was needing. If I slipped away now, these guys could provide my distraction whilst I made a getaway, especially with all of the guards occupied with them. Quickly weighing the options in my head, I came to a decision and subtly edged towards the door, sticking to the shadows as the girl kept her saber at the throat of the queen.

"Looks like your slave empire is finished! Again." She hissed.

The queen somehow managed to remain indignant. "Get that thing out of my face!" I jumped back in shock as the young girl's body suddenly convulsed and she fell to the ground.

Realising what had happened, my hands flew to my own neck which had the shock collar on. Brain running at a hundred miles an hour, I slipped out the door soundlessly before the queen could remember that I was there and sprinted down the hallway. Through the windows, I could see what was going on down in the pit, and my heart fell as more guards ran out of the doors with whips. They wouldn't stand a chance, even if I somehow helped.

Exiting the part of the palace where the auction was being held, I sprinted back to the slave quarters and ran into the disgusting bathroom. It was a pitiful excuse for a washroom, with barely enough room for the shower and toilet, but I wasn't focused on that. Running my hands around the edges of the tiles on the walls, I found a loose one and pulled on it. Me and Thea had chiselled small areas out all over the palace like this, where we could store all the items we needed to escape. Sure enough the stack of clothes hidden in the hole was still there was I quickly got out of my slave clothes to get changed.

No, I wasn't having a fashionista moment, but if I needed to go cross country, the last thing I would need was to be worrying about my skirt getting caught or something. I rapidly checked through the stack of clothes and made sure that everything was still there. I was relieved to find the army green tank top, long black leggings, combat boots and utility belt there. I had a jacket as well for when the nights got cold.

Once I was changed, I dumped my slave clothes in the toilet, glad to say goodbye to them. I was about to leave the bathroom when I remembered the damn shock collar. Prising at it with my fingers, I cursed as it was still stuck fast. It probably wouldn't be long before the queen noticed that I was gone and the first thing that she'd do would be to shock me to stop me in my tracks. Taking a deep breath and calming my mind, I brought my hands up so they were a little way off my neck and envisioned two hands pulling at the collar. Closing my eyes, I tensed my hands in a pulling motion, and instantly, I felt a tug in my gut, the way you do before a big drop. I imagined the hands pulling harder and the tug got stronger, almost to the point where it was unbearable, but right as I was about to give up, the metal snapped.

Allowing myself a wry grin, I ripped the jewellery away from my throat and dropped it with the rest of my clothes. Exiting the bathroom, I started sprinting for the north tower to get a lay of the land. I was almost to the north tower when I almost ran into two guards who must have been on their way to the auction pits. Pressing against the wall, I listened as their footsteps faded. I was about to take off again before I heard the awful accent of a Zygerian.

"What do you think you're doing?" He snarled before a hard metal object clipped the back of my head, catapulting me forwards. Scrambling to my feet, I tried to make sense of the spinning world and I could make out the figure of a guard stalking towards me. He swing out with his staff again, and I dropped to the floor to avoid having my head decapitated. Rolling away, with my stomach churning, adrenaline kicked in. My vision cleared and I got to my feet again. This time, as he swung once more, I caught the staff and reacted of pure instinct, pulling him closer and punching him across the face. It wasn't a strong one, but it was enough to distract him and I yanked the staff from his hands. Switching on the electricity current and spinning it, I jabbed it into his abdomen, causing him to collapse.

"Hell." I breathed. "I actually did that."

And it may have been the most impractical time to do so, but I smiled and whooped. Maybe it was because I had the security of a weapon. Maybe it was because for the first time in _six years,_ I didn't feel inadequate or weak. I was powerful.

The sudden roaring of thrusters caught my attention. Glancing out the window, the air was filled with ships, most likely the guests leaving. They probably had Kenobi and the others locked up by now. I felt a pang of guilt in my gut, but I ignored it. I could barely help myself, despite my recent victory, so how could I help a Jedi Master, especially when him, a fellow Jedi Knight and what was probably a Padawan couldn't defend themselves? Pushing my thoughts aside, I set off for the north tower and thankfully got there without an interruption. I was about to ascend the tower when yet again, I narrowly dodged running into a small squad of guards. Peeking around the corner, I counted seven of whom were all talking with one another.

"Are all patrols back on?" One asked.

Another answered, "Yes. The queen wants a sweep for any remaining allies of the Jedi." They moved on and I creatively cussed. If patrols were back on and on high alert, it would be hard for me to escape. Spotting a maintenance closet nearby, I ran over to it and slipped inside, locking the deadbolt when I was inside. I waited for a few minutes, pondering on my next move. I could wait until morning, when all the guards were tired and try to escape then. That would make the most sense, but whilst the whole palace was on lockdown, I'd be foolish to try and escape now. It was already late, so I grabbed some old towels off a rack and put my jacket down to make a pillow. Double checking the deadbolt, I settled down and tried to get some rest. I'd need it if I was going to pull of this plan, but once again, I found my thoughts straying to the Jedi. I wondered where they were now. I decided that in the early morning, I'd get up and scout the palace for them. Maybe if I found one of them and spotted another alone, then I could tell one where the others were. Shifting, I frowned and turned the light off.

Slowly, I drifted into a fitful sleep.

**\----Author's Note----**

**Well, my word count is now glaring at me and telling me that this is the shortest chapter to date, and MAN, do I feel hella guilty about it! *pops party popper***

**Ok, so slight exaggeration, but I'm just one of those authors that** **_has_ ** **to have a massive word count to feel that they've done a good job on the chapter. *scoffs* I mean, who considers nearly 3000 words a suitable chapter length, right? *laughs awkwardly***

**But, for now, it's really late, and I should be sleeping (but my nocturnal brain had other ideas), so I'm gonna just ignore the fact that I'm under my minimum word count, and that Wattpad just crashed, so I'm having to retype this, and I'm gonna try to get some sleep.**

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	7. Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Instilling trust in others is had. But in ourselves, it is harder."

**REINA TAUTASKI**

The next morning, as I groggily came to, I was shaken out of my sleep by the banging of something metallic. It took me a second to identify the sound but when I did, I forgot how to breathe momentarily.

It was the door handle.

I watched, sat perfectly still as the door handle continued to move, and I heard voices on the other side. _Zygerian_ voices.

"What's wrong with this door!?" A male cursed.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Another said.

"The handle is stuck! It's not my fault!" I silently got up, heart pounding as they bickered back and forth behind the door.

Remembering a vent up in the top corner of the room that I'd seen last night, I figured my chances of squeezing in were pretty good. As quietly as I could, I nudged a shelf underneath the vent and flinched as they started rattling the door violently. Quickly tying my jacket around my waist, I started to climb the shelf, giving myself heart palpitations whenever it rocked sickeningly. Clambering onto the top, I slipped the grid off the vent and climbed into the cool metal vent, leaving the cover off the grid. It wouldn't be long before they realised I was missing anyway, as I obviously wouldn't show up for morning duties, so it didn't really matter.

I quickly decided not to stick around for when they got in, so crawled my way towards the queen's quarters. Although I wanted to escape, my curiosity had gotten the better of me and I wanted to know what had happened to Lars Quell and his friends. Kenobi would have probably been taken to processing, but I had a feeling that the queen would keep the young Togruta at the palace for leverage. And I highly doubted that Lars had been sent to processing; the queen was too smitten. Although to any other viewer's eyes, she was cool and calm around him, I knew he'd struck a chord with her. She normally never allowed people to have the privileges that he'd had for years, let alone hours. I slipped out of the vents just around the corner from the queen's quarters. I was about to run to her chambers when I stopped, hearing voices from a couple of doors down.

Creeping down the hallway, I stopped outside the doors to a guest room, just catching the queen's voice.

"-destroyed my auction and frightened my customers." The queen said to someone behind the door. "Count Dooku and half my kingdom are demanding your death." There was a moment of silence before a horrid retching sound began and my heart leapt to my throat.

"You should have listened to them. My friends. Where are they!" Lars's voice raised.

The queen choked out, "Continue to misbehave, and they die!" There was another moment of strained gasps from the queen before she began coughing, her voice now sounding clearer. Finally, she spoke again. "A most curious Jedi who cares more about his friends than his own mission. Hero. General. And now my servant." She said smugly, knowing that she had complete manipulation over the young Jedi.

"I will not serve you." He growled, but it was obvious in his voice that he knew he didn't have a choice.

"Your heart is not in your words. You will stand beside me; a testament to my power. Here. My bodyguard will need a weapon." I assumed that she'd given him a whip. "And you need not worry about your friends. They will be quite safe."

The voices stopped and after a few minutes, I cracked open the door. The room was empty, so they must have walked out the balcony doors and started to walk around the palace walls. Walking over to the edge of the bed, I sat down on it heavily running a hand down my face.

I couldn't leave.

I just couldn't bring myself to ignore the situation this man was going through. When I'd listened to that conversation, I could hear something so familiar in Lars's voice. It was defeat. Knowing that your actions were bound with the life of another person. Bearing the weight that every move you made, every word you said was going to be scrutinised and picked apart, simply to find a reason to punish you. I knew why it sounded familiar. It was because it was my voice.

As far as I was concerned, it wasn't that I owed Lars anything. Not at all. He'd still been the one to stop Thea, and lead her to her death. But, I did feel a sympathy - no, an _empathy._ I knew the feeling of having someone's life on the line because of you, and it was even worse when it was someone close to you. Wether he liked it or not, Lars was a slave now. And slaves had to help each other out when they could, and right now, I could.

I spent the rest of the day navigating my way through the palace, following Lars and the queen from one end of the palace to another. At one point, they went on a flight on some of the native flying reptiles that lived on the planet and I was forced to pass the time for a couple of hours. As it ended up, that time was used by trying to figure out the mechanism for working the guard's models of blasters. I'd managed to steal one when a guard wasn't looking. The Zygerian guard always had been cocky.

It had been another task in itself to try and figure out how the blaster worked. As slaves, the slave drivers didn't exactly allow us to run around armed. Eventually, I figured out the trick was to turn off the safety, but just as I had and it was about to fire, the gun powered down. Frowning, I smacked it against my palm to try and knock some life into it, but it still stayed as dead. I'd deducted that they'd probably remotely disabled the blaster after they realised it was missing. Scowling, I set it behind a column in the shadows where it would take a while to find and eventually took refuge behind some shrubs that had been planted in beds amongst the palace walls and waited for them to return.

The sun was low and my eyes were just starting to close when I heard the call of one of the lizards that Lars and the Queen had taken. Looking up, sure enough, two orange shapes appeared in the distance and it only took a few minutes for them to land, until the came to a stop on the balcony underneath the one I was on. Whatever they were discussing, Lars clearly didn't like it. His expression was tight with anger and his fists clenched, his body language screaming defensiveness. Getting closer to hear them, I heard the queen speak.

"What if I freed your friends?" She asked, and I gaped in a stunned silence. The queen was more in love than I realised; it had made her foolhardy. The first lesson of being a slave driver is to _never_ let your slaves go. "Commit to serving me?" She continued. "If a Jedi as noble as you can give his word, I think you might keep it.". Lars looked conflicted.

After a long pause, he growled, "I don't trust you."

The queen huffed, annoyed. "Have I been anything but honest? I have no reason to lie. I am who I am." My lip curled in distaste at this comment.

The queen had always used this motto. _I am who I am._ I'd hated it. She constantly used it as if to justify the horrors she had unleashed upon so many innocent lives. She simple accepted her cruelty, as if there was nothing wrong with it. It was so wrong and ridiculous on so many levels, it made me want to throttle her every time she said it.

"It is you, you who are the complicated one." I rolled my eyes. She was talking like they were married for Force's sake. "Now Master Skywalker. The future of your friends lies in your hands. If they are to live as slaves, it will be you who keeps them that way." My eyes widened as I realised why Lars's fighting style had seemed so familiar to me when I'd watched him in the pits. His bold and brash attitude, his connection to Kenobi - All of a sudden, the pieces fell into place too quickly.

Lars Quell was Anakin Skywalker.

~

After the conversation, I'd returned to the ventilation shafts, the one area that was safe from prying eyes.

_Lars Quell is Anakin Skywalker. The Chosen One._

It didn't matter how many times I repeated the phrase in my head, it never made it more believable. How was it that the Chosen One had ended up in a mess a large as this? Surely the Council would have never been so thoughtless as to send him on a mission to a slavery world? Everyone at the Temple had known Anakin Skywalker, wether they'd met him or not. Taken on at nine as a prodigy, after Master Qui-Jon Jinn's death, Obi-Wan Kenobi had been selected to train him, barely days after his own promotion to knighthood. Some of the other Padawans had acted foul around him, as he often made enemies with his bad attitude from time to time. But most of all, no-one could believe that the so called "Chosen One" was a slave from a meaningless desert world who pod raced to pass his days. It just seemed too far-fetched to be true.

I won't lie. I _had_ thought about abandoning him and his friends. I wasn't sure what to think of the Jedi at the moment, but I didn't want to wrap myself up into a bigger mess than I was already in. But I'd stuck around this long. I might as well have gotten the job done.

In the short time since I'd last seen Skywalker and the queen, I'd managed to locate the young Togruta; hanging off the palace walls in a cage. Rumour was that Atai had been promised her after Skywalker was "tamed". I'd looked for Kenobi, but I couldn't find or sense him, so I could only assume that he'd been taken off-world. I was walking along the west walls of the palace when I heard the queen's clipped accent.

"Sooner than anticipated. Make preparations for his arrival." She said tightly. Frowning, I crept closer to the balcony before instantly ducking down. Atai, Skywalker, the queen and two guards were all on the balcony below me. I was once again thankful for the palace's almost comically handy design of layering the levels up like a pyramid, making things easy to spy on. I watched Atai walk off down the west wall below me before Skywalker spoke up.

"So even you have a master."

My mouth twisted into a slight grin. Skywalker wasn't holding back on getting under the queen's skin. I guessed that his reputation proceeded him, just as he said.

The queen snapped back, "Dooku is not my master!"

The smirk was wiped off my face at the sound of the Sith's name. I'd never been in his presence, but the few times that he had been on the world, everything had seemed duller. The flowers seemed to wilt and the sky looked the colour of the churning sea in a violent storm. The life seemed to be sucked out of everything and everyone. Negative emotions were more liable to being provoked and it scared me. If his mere _presence_ could do that, then what happened when he actually properly connected with the Force?

The queen's skirts swishing caught my eye as I was drawn out of my thoughts. "Perhaps, you should not attend this meeting. Can I trust you not to run away?" She asked mockingly.

Skywalker scowled and placed his lightsaber underneath the queen's throat. I did a double take at the weapon. Was the queen really so foolish to allow a Jedi to run around with his signature weapon? The two guards put their blasters to his head, but he didn't seem to care. "I don't run away from anything, your Highness." He snarled back.

 _Not a quality we share then,_ I thought dryly.

The queen just laughed and smoothy slid the lightsaber from his grip before wordlessly walking away. But as soon as she was gone, the Zygerian guards did what they do best; got cocky. Almost instantaneously, the prowled towards Skywalker and shoved him roughly, like a Bantha playing with it's food.

And then the droid made an appearance.

Completely out of the blue, the old astromech from earlier came barrelling out of nowhere and somehow rammed both guards at once. One of the guards whipped around and bared his fangs at the little robot. "Get lost you miserable tin can!" The droid said some things back that I'd rather not repeat.

But the poor guards were a bit slow. As the astromech had provided a distraction, Skywalker leaped over the railing, which descended into open air. The sudden movement had caught the first guard's eye though, and he ran over to the railing to see... nothing. He turned to the second guard and hissed, "Get down there and find that Jedi!"

"Yes, sir!" The second guard ran off along the south wall. But as soon as he was gone, Skywalker clambered over the edge of the railing again - he must have grabbed onto a ledge underneath the balcony - and threw the guard over the edge of the palace, sending him spiralling down into the slums below. Dusting off his hands as if he gave people free flying lessons every day, he crouched down next to his droid.

"Nice work pal. You find Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka? That must have been the name of his Togruta friend. The droid whistled back a no sadly. It then hit me that this was my ticket out of here. If these guys were going to escape, then I could hitch a ride off world with them. I just had to play my cards right.

Leaning over the balcony, I took a deep breath and called down to him. "It sounds like you need a hand."

Skywalker looked up, instantly on edge. The astromech turned around and pointed a taser in my direction. I raised an eyebrow.

"Quite the welcoming committee." I said flatly.

Skywalker eyed me carefully. "Who are you?" He retorted threateningly.

"Me? I'm your guide. A little birdie told me that you were looking for your Togruta friend - Ahsoka, was it?"

His fists closed. "Where is she?" He growled and I was glad that I was on a higher balcony, I'll admit. Whatever she was to him, - sister, fellow Jedi - he cared for her. I carefully thought about my next move.

I softened my attitude, relaxing my body language. I knew how to fake an emotion after all these years. "Hey look, I'm here to make a deal. This can work out for both of us.

"Yes, because your average slave always wanders freely."

"I'm making my way out of this hell. I'm surprised that you haven't even recognised me. After all, you did just merrily let that Twi'lek die, with no thought of repercussions." I unintentionally let some anger seep into my voice. Realisation dawned on his face as he recognised me for the sobbing mess of a girl that he'd noticed on the balcony.

"That was- wait. No, look. I'm sorry about your friend. I didn't want her to die."

"Really?" I said darkly, not holding back my anger this time. "Is that what you thought when you saw her tip over the edge, gripped in fear from the single word from the single mouth of a heartless slave driver? Have you ever given any thought to slaves like us, who've spent six years waiting and biding their time to get out of this hellhole? Have you been whipped until your back is so sore that you can't move? Have you seen your best friends, your only _family_ be bought and sold like animals? No, I don't think you have. You see this scar on my back?" I spat, fire running through my veins as I showed him a white scar just running up the back of my neck slightly. "This was ordered by her precious Majesty, and I have many more where that came from! So I'll ask you now; do you still doubt my motive to escape? To see the queen de-throned and this hellish empire burn to the ground?" I finished stonily, almost daring him to contradict me. The young Jedi was silent for a few seconds and I saw a flash of empathy in his eyes. To my surprise, offered his name.

"Anakin Skywalker." He said in a tone that I couldn't quite decipher.

"Ra-Kin Ullilford." I said using the alias that I'd made up so long ago. "If I take you to your friend, all I ask in exchange is a ticket out of here. Then I'll be out of your hair."

Skywalker nodded almost immediately. "Where is she?" He asked. I got the feeling that he still didn't trust me, but I didn't take it to heart. I didn't trust him either.

"Five floors up, on this south wall in a cage. He nodded and was about to start jumping when I stopped him. " _But,_ you may want to take me with you. I've been in this palace for five years. I know when and where all the patrols are. I could make it a lot easier, but uh... I'll need a lift."

Yes, I could have potentially Force-jumped my way up, but I couldn't exactly just tell Skywalker my life story. I had a feeling that explaining that I was a supposedly dead youngling would just push me into more trouble. Until I had my head on straight about the Jedi, I was going to remain calm and minimise what I told him about myself.

Skywalker turned to the small astromech and crouched down next to it. "Well buddy? You think you can carry her?" The droid beeped arrogantly. Skywalker laughed and looked back at me before saying, "Climb aboard." The R2 unit flew up to the balcony I was on and I and placed a foot on either side of its treads before holding onto the body of it.

I was thankful of my sense if balance as a Jedi, otherwise I probably would have fallen off the old astromech straight away. The droid had powerful little rockets installed in its sides and it shot up like a firework. I gripped onto the sides but felt exhilarated at the same time. The few times that I'd flown were my faint memories of the Jedi transports and the flying lizards that I'd sometimes ridden when accompanying the queen to somewhere, but either way, I loved the feeling off being freed from the oppression of gravity. Skywalker was leaping up the levels of the balconies behind us like there was no tomorrow. We'd hit the second floor up when my inner midichlorians screamed at me to stop.

"Wait!" I whispered to the astromech. The robot jerked to a halt mid-air with Skywalker jumping up beside us on top of a small statue mounted on the walls. He looked at me questioningly and I motioned for him to stop and listen.

"Preparations have been made for Dooku?" Prime Minister Atai's voice rang out above us.

"Yes, my lord." A guard's voice replied.

I could hear the smirk in Atai's voice. "Good. He will be most interested in my news that I will give him."

As the sound of their voices faded, I frowned at Skywalker, but he seemed just as confused as I was. Shrugging, I pointed up and asked the small droid to keep going. Thankfully, we ran into no more interruptions and soon, I was being carried over the Togruta's cage and onto the walkway. Climbing off, I crouched down next to the droid.

"Thanks little guy." I said quietly and it whistled back happily.

I turned and watched Skywalker jump onto the walkway and then on top of the young girl's cage. She looked up and grinned.

"Well, hello Master. Took you long enough." She said and suddenly, I understood the bond between the two Jedi. She was Skywalker's padawan, which meant that Skywalker was now either a Knight or Master and had graduated from being Obi-Wan's padawan.

Skywalker stood up and looked out at the view, which admittedly, wasn't that bad. "Well, I knew you had a nice view." He said, amusement lacing his voice. Jumping off, he unhooked the cage from the wall and Force-lifted it up and onto the walkway. Ripping off the front of the cage, he held out a hand to his padawan who took it. "Are you okay?" He asked with concern.

"I sense a disturbance in the Force." She said as she snapped her shock collar and pulled it off her neck. "Who's she?" She said, seeming to notice my presence for the first time. I noticed that the two Jedi shared the same   
wary and alert manner.

"I'm Ra. Ra-Kin." I said cooly.

"She helped me find you. I would have run into that slave driver that we first met if it wasn't for her." Skywalker replied.

The Togruta's features softened. "Oh. Sorry then for the hostility, and thank you." I nodded in return.

"As for the disturbance, it's Dooku." Skywalker said to her. "I need you to get our ship. Here, take this comm link." He pulled his secondary comm off of his sleeve and gave it to Ahsoka.

She folded her arms. "Where are you going?"

"The queen knows where Obi-Wan is." He said and this caught my attention. So they didn't know where Kenobi was. "Hold onto that comm link and wait for my signal. Ra-Kin, do you know where the ships are kept?" I nodded. "Good. I need you to guide Ahsoka there."

"No problem." I replied. Skywalker nodded to me and Ahsoka before leaping towards the throne room.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and looked back at the astromech. "Come on R2." She looked at me to lead the way.

"Follow me." I said before walking towards the south wall. The first part of the journey was carried out in both of us too preoccupied with avoiding attention to talk. Finally, once it seemed safe, I spoke. "So. You're a padawan?"

Ahsoka frowned. "How do you know?"

I gestured to the braid hanging from her montrals. "Your braid. All padawans have it."

"Observant." She commented. She looked at my attire. "So what are you? You aren't exactly dressed like a slave. Young bounty hunter maybe?"

I snorted before remembering that we were at a constant risk of being caught. "Please. Only slaves are fed this little." I gestured to my general being. "And like I'd become one of those _sleemos._ Nope, these are just clothes that I've smuggled into the palace and changed into..." I slowly stopped walking as I realised what we were about to walk past.

The crematorium.

**\----Author's Note----**

**Before I get started with the A/N, I'm just going to put a quick guide down:**   
_**~ = Unspecified but short time jump.** _   
_- **\---Insert time gap here---- = This will tell you the time jump, obviously.**_

**So, Reina's feeling conflicted on facing the Jedi Council again. I've had this idea in my head for a while now. After all, they almost rejected Anakin, and he was both The Chosen One and only ten, yet they still said that he was too old, so it's understandable for Reina to be wary. And after all the war, the Jedi Order is changing.**

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	8. Part V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Once all ties are cut, the future becomes limitless."

**REINA TAUTASKI**

"Ra-Kin? What's wrong?" I heard Ahsoka asking me these questions but paid no mind to it.

In almost a trance like state, I walked to the crematorium door and pushed it open. When I'd first arrived, I hadn't understood the need for a crematorium. But after a year, with the amount of slaves that had died from one thing or another, I understood perfectly.

The whole room was a sterile white, with no windows and just three chutes up the walls and a control board on the right wall. In front of me laid three caskets, all open. In the first two were Zygerians. Probably guards that were caught in the explosions during the slave auction. But in the third was a very familiar Twi'lek. A lump formed in my throat as I placed a hand on the side of her coffin, trying not to throw up.

The Zygerians, they'd been cleaned up. They were ready for their funerals. But Thea... it was a far cry from them. I dared not to turn her over for I could see where the blood had stained her back from the fall. Her pale skin had shallowed and her whole body was horribly broken and twisted. I swallowed hard and carefully, I clasped her hands over her stomach and placed her head straight before shutting her eyes. They didn't even have the decency to _shut her eyes._

Ahsoka walked in the room to see what I was doing and stopped dead in her tracks. I refused to cry. I'd cried my tears back in the slave quarters. Instead, I just wordlessly stared at the person who had helped me through the darkest times of my life. Anger just joined the growing pile of fear and resentment that had been bubbling up unhealthily inside of me for six years. Flinching, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Ra-Kin." Ahsoka said gently. "We have to go."

She seemed hesitant, and that's when I noticed how hard I was gripping the sides of the casket, the metal cutting into the palms of my hands and knuckles faded to an ashen white. Bowing my head, I refused the urge to knock Ahsoka's hand aside and ignored the fact that I was shaking. It wasn't fair.

_Life isn't fair._

_Shut up,_ I thought back.

Head, snapping up, I shoved my emotions down and swallowed before grasping Thea's hand tightly. Pulling it up to my mouth, I pressed my lips against it.

" _Resia al pací, mi vala._ " I whispered hoarsely, before stepping away, and willing my feet to walk. 

It felt like I had sandbags in my shoulder, but I kept walking anyway. Thea was all I'd ever known for most of my living memory. She _was_ the only family I had. But I ignored the swell of self-pity and doubt, I ignored the angry voices telling me to stay and stalked off towards the hangars where all the ships were kept. I didn't check to see if Ahsoka was following. If she was, she didn't make her presence known by speaking.

"Which one's yours?" I asked monotonously as we got to the hangars. She pointed to a large orange Zygerian freighter. I curled my lip in distaste but it would have to do. Those particular ships were often used to transport slaves back and forth between worlds. "Let's go then."

As we snuck over to the freighter, we almost ran into guards patrolling the area several times, but I managed to hold Ahsoka back the few times that she was about to bolt out. We got over to the freighter and Ahsoka ran into the cockpit as I looked around the cargo hold or anything that may have been useful. I was just searching through some boxes when I heard the yell of a guard behind me.

Turning to the entrance of the cargo hold, I saw two guards run over to me, yelling in Zygerian. Scowling, I backed up quickly, but the guards still advanced. As one flung his whip at me, I leaped out the way, narrowly missing it. He lunged again and I ducked, feeling the cord skim my scalp.

"Ahsoka! Now would be a fantastic time to leave!" I yelled back towards the cockpit, missing another whip. "We have two guards wanting to hitch a ride!"

The second guard brandished a knife and barrelled up to me. Somewhere from my subconsciousness, a random memory of self-defence class rose from my time in the Temple, and I dropped in a makeshift defensive guard.

_Keep seventy percent of your weight on your back leg._

Out of nowhere, the other guard's whip suddenly wrapped around my wrist and attempted to pull me over, but I grounded my base area and instead wrapped my hand around the cord, pulling on it in a deft tug and yanking the guard of balance, causing him to drop his end of the whip. Quickly turning back to the guard with the knife, I blocked his strike coming for my head with my forearm before grabbing his wrist, placing a foot behind his and knocking his knee in, causing him to collapse. It was a move that I'd seen the guards use many times to subdue unruly slaves. Getting him on the ground, I was forced to smack his hand against the floor three time before he eventually had to drop the knife and I quickly kicked it away before punching down onto his solar plexus, winding him. Getting up, I looked over to where the other guard was laid, but he wasn't there. Suddenly, hands suddenly fastened themselves around my arms from behind, making me drop the knife and I quickly realised that should have paid more attention to him.

And he had a knife.

I yelled as I felt the sharp edge slice down the right side of my neck and onto my collar bone, but I threw my head back, head butting him in the nose and causing a nasty lump to form on my own head. He staggered backwards with his arms flailing and I lurched forwards to grab his wrist before ripping the knife from his hand and fastening it onto my belt. I noticed the ship shaking; Ahsoka must have gotten the engines running. Backtracking into the ship, I palmed a button which started to close the ramp to the back. Then I spotted the second knife laid on the floor from the first guard, and in a split second decision, summoned it back. I felt the tug in my gut and almost instantly, the blade flew through the air and back into my hand. For a moment, the guards looked at me stunned. Smirking, I mock saluted them as the hatch closed in front of me.

He didn't realise that I was just as shocked.

Quickly, I dropped the knife with a clatter as a rush of nausea overcame m and my adrenaline faded. Leaning on one of the crates heavily, I put my fingers to the side of my neck and winced as they brushed over the gash. It only seemed to be a surface wound though - I'd live. I walked into the cockpit and collapsed into the co-pilot seat. Ahsoka did a double take when she saw me.

"What happened to you!?" She asked, shocked.

I ran my hands over my face. "I _really_ hate those guards."

"You're bleeding."

"Really?" I snapped, slightly crabby. The wound was stinging like someone had rubbed salt in it and the overall stress of the day was starting to settle on me now that I wasn't in immediate danger. I sighed heavily. "Sorry, I shouldn't snap. None of this is your fault. How about we start over; Re- Ra-Kin Ullilford." I said, hoping she hadn't noticed my slip-up.

Ahsoka smiled. "Ahsoka Tano." Then, a small light began blinking on the dashboard and just like that, Ahsoka's game face was on. "That's our signal. Let's get going." Her hands flew over the controls with experience as she fired up the ship. Ahsoka picked something up from the side and chucked it over to me, with my reflexes kicking in as I caught it. Turning over the small oval dish, I recognised it as a comm link.

Clipping it to my armband, I muttered a thanks. Ahsoka flew the ship around to the other side of the palace and levelled it. Spinning in my chair, watching one of the feeds from the surveillance camera. I just caught Skywalker jumping into the ship with a limp body in his arms, but it was not the fact that he'd just jumped from about twenty metres up, or that he'd smashed through a glass window to do so that got my attention.

It was the fact that he was carrying the queen.

Getting up, I walked towards the cargo hold before Ahsoka's voice stopped me. "Ra-Kin".

"Yes?" I replied, slightly harsher than I intended.

"Don't do anything stupid. And that wound is still bleeding."

I nodded, even though she wasn't looking back at me. "Don't worry. I have no desire to talk to that slaver."

"You know that's not what I mean."

I set my mouth in a thin line and left the cockpit without replying. Now that the back hatch was closed, it was extremely dark in the cargo hold and little light illuminated the room. In the middle was Skywalker and the queen, but her Majesty didn't look like she was going to rule for much longer at her current rate. Her normally luminous skin was pale and dry and her eyes held barely any life. I leaned against the doorframe as I watched the exchange between the two.

"No escape... for any of us." The queen struggled with her words as she held Skywalker's lightsaber up for him to take. She then seemed to spot me out the corner of her eye. "Reina. Come here." My heart plummeted as she said my name and Skywalker gave me a questioning look. I had no desire to get closer to the scum, especially as she was about to blow my cover if she hadn't already, but my curiosity got the better of me yet again. I walked closer, making sure my face was set in an unforgiving expression. The queen's hand brushed my cheek which I was fairly sure had blood on it as I crouched down by her. "An unbroken spirit... but still a slave." I jerked away from her hand.

"I am no slave. I never was." I spat.

"Wandering... just no master..." The queen coughed. "You'll never... find your place... no-one... will take you... accept you..." I scowled and my hand subconsciously drifted closer to the knife on my belt.

Skywalker interrupted. "Where is Obi-Wan? Tell me!"

"Kadavo system. You were right Skywalker. I am a slave. Just as you all are." She managed before falling limp and the last light left her eyes.

I wasn't sad. Far from it, but I stayed quiet. I frowned and stood up.

"Ra-Kin? Or should I call you that, _Reina?_ " Skywalker growled and I winced. I was hoping that he'd forgotten about that.

Quickly, I cooked up a fib. "It's an insult on Zygeria. She named me Reina after the word "to reign" as in over something. She purposefully did it so I knew that she ruled over me. Some stupid attempt to break my spirit I suppose". I lied. I was slightly shocked at how convincing I sounded, despite it being pretty far-fetched for a lie. My skills in lying had always been something that I was oddly proud of. That probably wasn't a good thing, but it had often gotten me out of a few sticky situations here and there. I decided to change the subject before he became too interested again. "So, I presume that we're en route for Kadavo." I said following him back into the cockpit. He took the pilot seat so I was left standing.

"As of... now," He inputted the co-ordinates of Kadavo, "Yes. Anyway, what happened to your neck? It looks like you picked a fight with someone's pet. And lost."

I rolled my eyes. "Try a fight with two guards, and I won, _actually._ "

"So you're just bleeding out anyway."

"I am not bleeding out, thank you very much. I'm just-"

"Bleeding rapidly?"

"Forget it." I huffed and leaned on the back of Ahsoka's chair, not bothering to make a smart remark about the smirk on Skywalker's face. I saw Ahsoka shake her head smiling slightly as we left the planet's stratosphere and soon, my attention was drawn to the outside of the front window.

Stars.

Millions and millions of stars stretching on forever with nebulae glowing softly against an inky black canvas. It was so gentle and soft, yet untamed and unstable, locked in a contrast. It was bizarre to me that after all those years of staring up into the sky, wanting to be up there, I was finally here. I suddenly noticed the strange look that Skywalker was giving me.

"What?" I challenged.

"Nothing. It's just funny. It's as if you've never seen the stars before."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well, I _am_ sorry. Not all of us are privileged enough to see something other than slavery everyday, let alone outer space." I said flatly before looking out the window again. Skywalker shook his head slightly before turning to his padawan.

"Snips, are we clear for the jump?"

I frowned. Snips?

"Yes Master." Ahsoka replied. It must have been her nickname.

"Then let's go. Oh, and Ra-Kin? You might want to hang on to something." Skywalker said before reaching forwards and pulling a lever down.

I heard something powering up in the back of the ship and gripped the back of Ahsoka's chair tighter. Suddenly, light seemed to bend around us and the stars zoomed past at a thousand miles an hour. I was thrown back as we jumped to incredible speeds and space disintegrated around us into a vortex of swirling blue and white. A powerful rush of energy swelled like the music of an orchestra, but as soon as the climax had peaked, it decreased until it was a low hum and the tremor that had run through the ship was but a wisp of an unstable shudder before disappearing completely. I realised what I'd just witnessed.

We were in hyperspace.

I'd heard of the intergalactic and dangerous travel method, but couldn't recall anything of experiencing it during my time in the Temple. It was incredible really - jet streams of warped space and time, crossing the galaxy in millions of different routes. Ways of crossing the star systems in a matter of hours and minutes, travelling at the speed of light.

I laughed. At first, it was but a chuckle but soon, fits of pure joy were emanating from my mouth. The two Jedi sat in front of me looked at me as if I'd lost my mind, but I couldn't have cared less. I was _free._ After the years and months of playing a torturous game, waiting to show my cards, it was over.

"Is something funny?" Ahsoka asked frowning.

I struggled to wipe the smile from my face. "N-no." I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "I... I just can't believe that it's over." I managed to collect myself, but my grin was still stretched over my face. "I've been stuck there for five years of my life. And it's over."

"You said to me at first that you were there for six years." Skywalker said raising an eyebrow.

"I said that I've been in _slavery,_ for six years. The first year..." The smile slipped from my face and a shiver involuntarily ran down my spine. "It was spent in processing." I said the latter in a tone that showed I didn't want to talk about it.

Ahsoka rose from her seat. "I'm going to get changed. If we're about to raid a slaver facility then I'm not doing it dressed like this." She gestured to the cyan clothes that she still wore with distaste.

"Sure but we'll be at Kadavo in ten minutes, so be fast."

"I'm faster than _you_ Master." Ahsoka smirked.

Skywalker just rolled his eyes before turning to me as Ahsoka left. I moved into the co-pilot seat, examining the control board, with countless buttons and levers on it. We sat in silence for a few minutes until I asked the question that had been nagging at me for a while. "So when were you a slave? Apart from on Zygeria?"

Skywalker flinched as if I'd just smacked him. "Who said I was a slave?" He said calmly, but I heard a hard edge to his voice.

"I can tell." I replied.

It was silent for a bit more, but after a minute of me pointedly staring at him, he sighed. "From when I was born to when I turned nine. Then I was found and taken to the Jedi Temple." He answered tightly. "What about you? You must be, what, Ahsoka's age, fifteen? Six years would have made you nine when they caught you. Where were you before?"

It was my turn to be on edge now. Skywalker's questions were hovering way too close to my true past. "I lived with extended family. My parents were already dead and my extended family were also killed when I was taken." I lied.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said quietly.

"Don't be. It happened and I've moved on. I've learned to survive." I studied the controls, keen on steering the conversation away from my past. "So the attack on Kadavo will be in darkness?"

Skywalker seemed to shake himself out of his mood. "No, the suns and planets have a different rotation here because it's a different system. It's late morning right now on Kadavo."

"Mm, great." I grumbled.

Skywalker frowned. "What?" He asked.

"I was hoping to get some sleep." I replied, with last night's late sleep starting to wear me down.

Skywalker chuckled. "Believe me, as soon as you're in a battle zone, you'll wake up faster than if someone poured cold water over your head."

Skywalker glanced behind him. Ahsoka walked back in, kitted out in a dark red combat suit with a belt and skirt. She wore black leggings with diamond cut outs down the sides and knee high boots. She'd taken off all the heavy jewellery that was on her montrals and her two lightsabers hung from her sides. She certainly looked like a Jedi Commander. Spinning around in my chair, I got up and moved back to standing up. Ahsoka gave me a look of thanks.

"Ahsoka, there's going to be a lot of slaves to free. I need you to contact Master Plo to start the rescue operation." Ahsoka nodded and spun around to her right so she was looking at the monitors of the right wall. Typing in a frequency, she sat back and asked the R2 unit to secure and scramble the transmission as I watched curiously. It was only a few moments until a hologram appeared of a Kel Dor Jedi.

"Little Soka. It's good to see you safe." He said warmly.

Ahsoka smiled but got straight to business. "Master Plo, we're approaching Kadavo. We're ready to launch the rescue operation." She said firmly - the voice of a military officer.

"We'll set off but it will be a short while before we get there." He said.

"We'll see you there then. After all, you wouldn't want to miss the party." She grinned.

"Indeed." The Jedi sounded like he was smiling, although I couldn't tell because of his mask. He reached out of shot and clearly pressed a button to end the transmission as his image quickly flickered into nonexistence.

A small beeping then caught my attention and I looked over to see a red flashing light on the dashboard. Skywalker reached forwards and pushed the lever back the he'd originally pulled and the ship surged again as we disengaged lightspeed.

In front of us loomed Kadavo. I wanted to do nothing more than to turn the ship around and jump back into hyperspace, but I knew I couldn't back out now. Taking a deep breath, I watched as we slowly descended wordlessly into the planet's atmosphere. When we broke through the clouds, I sucked in air between my teeth as I gazed upon the slave facility. The building as a whole was designed similarly to the Zygerian palace, as in it was stacked in layers, but that wasn't what the eye was drawn to initially.

It was the gaping pit _underneath_ it.

The whole structure was suspended over a pit about half of the circumference of the Senate Building and was supported by four beams stretching from the edge of the pit to the prison itself. I whistled.

"That's going to be tough to crack." I muttered.

"We can handle it. Right Snips?"

Ahsoka snorted. "No problem."

At first, I wondered how they were so calm. And then it struck me that they probably actively participated in the Clone Wars. They were most likely on the front lines regularly and they'd seen much worse than this.

I didn't know whether to feel sorry for them or jealous.

Lasers started to fire as we landed the ship and I winced as our shields took a beating. The whole ship shuddered violently and even before we touched down, I streaked into the cargo hold. The door started to open and I was ready to bolt out when I paused. Sound around me dulled as I looked out the door again. The clouds were a muddy brown and red laser fire was everywhere. Four massive turrets rising up from each corner of the prison shot at our ship. For the first time, I realised I could die.

And I didn't give a damn.

Taking off out the door, my feet pounded against the concrete underneath me as I ran faster and more determined than I ever had before. Red bolts flew around on all sides of me but incredibly, none hit me or the two Jedi behind me. I pointed at the entrance which would provide some cover for us and hoped that the others would understand. Thankfully they did and we ducked in the entrance just as a massive explosion rocked the platform that our ship was on. I grimaced as what was left of the ship tumbled over the edge of the platform and into the abyss below.

Just perfect.

"So much for our ride home." Skywalker said sarcastically.

"What now?" Ahsoka asked, analysing the door, that didn't look like it wanted to open any time soon.

Skywalker unhooked his lightsaber from his belt. "We get through, the old fashioned way." Plunging his lightsaber into the door he began to drag it in an arc as I anxiously watched the laser fire creep closer to the door. Skywalker was about halfway through his circle when a small screen beeped on the side of the doorway and a face that I knew all too well popped up.

Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Freezing, I inched out of what I hoped was frame. Kenobi looked... worn, to say the least. He was filthy and bore a shock collar around his neck. Dark circles ringed his eyes and tiredness was evident, but nevertheless, determination still shone through. His beard had grown and his hair was slightly longer from the last time I'd seen him but otherwise, not much had changed. Still the same grit and measured calmness that set him apart from the other masters.

"Anakin! I'm glad to see you. But I'm afraid our host feels otherwise." He said whilst I was having a tough time finding a spot to be out of frame for the camera and in cover. Ahsoka gave me a weird look as if to say _"What are you doing?"_

I chose to ignore her.

"Well, you can't make everyone happy master." Skywalker said, proceeding to cut into the door.

Kenobi seemed exasperated. "They're threatening to kill the slaves unless you surrender."

"It's good to see you're always ready to negotiate, but I've had enough bargaining with slave drivers." The young Jedi scowled.

"Anakin, you must realise, this is a fight that you cannot win alone!"

"Who said I was alone?"

At first, the Jedi's comment confused me until I heard the drone of fighters. Looking up, the sky filled with gunships, fighters and I even spotted a Jedi star fighter among them, which I assumed belonged to "Master Plo". Instantly, they unleashed a wave of attacks against the four tall cannons and the whole base. Unfortunately, the attacks from the Republic were a little too strong. Debris from the prison fell down here and there and I winced as a chunk of stone fell and smashed against the ground in front of the doorway.

Ahsoka also seemed to pick up on the damage. "I hope Master Plo doesn't destroy this facility before we get off of it."

"Yeah. Us and all the slaves." Skywalker kicked in the slab of metal that he'd just finished cutting.

"We'll need a bigger ship." I muttered.

We ducked in the entrance and momentarily, three guards appeared around the corner. Not that it stopped us - in fact, Skywalker made short work of them as he cut the first two down and then stabbed the third mercilessly. I winced and couldn't help but frown disapprovingly. Granted, I was slightly rusty with my knowledge of the Jedi way, but I did know that that wasn't it.

Grimacing as another explosion rattled the facility I glanced over to Skywalker and Tano before taking off down the halls after them.

**\----Author's Note----**

**Well, officially the longest chapter so far. I know it's a bad ending, but in my defence, it's... *checks phone for time despite it being on about 2%* 11:11pm. Thank you brain for getting inspiration at ungodly hours.**

**Sometimes, when I'm editing, I honestly wonder what I was thinking when I wrote things. The amount of useless sentences that I include... it makes me want to slap myself around the face.**

**Tell me what you think in the comments, and please leave a little kudos!**

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	9. Part Vi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ignore the past that makes the future, and it will always return to teach the same lesson."

**OBI-WAN KENOBI**

Reina Tautaski might have thought she was having a rough day, but Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi might have just been having a rougher one. First, he'd managed to be captured, then been whipped, then almost been sold in a slave auction after being identified as a Jedi and to top it all off, sent to a remote mining facility to work, unable to defend himself or the innocents around him with Captain Rex. Granted, not all this happened in the same day, but the point still stood.

Anakin, unfortunately was not making things any simpler. After the young Jedi had proceeded to cut through the front door, one of the Zygerian guards shut off the transmission to the front entrance at the order of the head slaver that oversaw all of the slaves here. He was well built and although he looked like no fighter, was still an imposing figure. Rough features were barely recognisable on his rather ugly face. He had killed innocents just in spite of Kenobi's Jedi ways, knowing the effect that it would have on the Master Jedi.

The head slaver was about to say something when suddenly, the building rumbled and dust rained down from the ceiling as a large impact crashed against the facility. The presences of Anakin and Ahsoka filled Obi-Wan's mind, as well as an additional that he couldn't quite place, but just assumed that it was one of the reinforcements that Anakin had been talking about - a Jedi Master that he hadn't met, perhaps. Either way, it was clear that the Republic had arrived to help and Kenobi knew that now was the time to act.

Before the head slave driver could utter a word, Kenobi used the Force to rip the shock collars from his and Captain Rex's necks. "Rex, now!" He yelled.

"It's about time!" The clone replied before charging a guard and punching him repeatedly. Kenobi leaped up with a flip, landing behind a guard and quickly dodged the blaster fire, lifting his hands up on the last bolt so it connected with the link in his cuffs, breaking them and freeing his hands. Wrestling the guard to the ground they tussled until the Force screamed warnings in his head. But it was too late before he looked up to see the head slaver was at the control panel. 

"No!" He yelled desperately, only to receive a cocky look of arrogance and triumph from him before he palmed the control board. It flashed red under his claws but Kenobi's attention was forced back onto the guard that he was fighting. The head slaver punched in another set of orders in the computer before bashing the control board in, rendering it useless. Rex was unable to help either as he electrocuted the guard with his own staff. Giving the Zygerian guard one last punch, the Jedi Master sprinted to the controls and attempted to type desperately but the board was ruined. It sparked and the light faded from the controls.

**REINA TAUTASKI**

Meanwhile on Skywalker and Tano's side of the battle, a growing worry for the slaves was blossoming in Reina as the yellow lit halls whirled by them. Just then, all of their comms beeped and she pressed the larger metal disc of the two on it.

Master Kenobi's voice burst through. "The controls are destroyed Master Plo! There's nothing I can do from here!"

Her heart sank at the words. Something had happened.

"I cannot move in for the rescue operation until those enemy cannons are destroyed!" The newest Master replied.

It was Skywalker who now activated his communication device. "We'll take care of those cannons! Just make sure that cruiser gets down here! We're running out of time!"

"I'm gonna go help my people! I'll see if I can buy us some time!" Ahsoka called over the shrieking sirens around us. 

"I'll go with you! There are going to be a lot of slaves!" Reina said and Ahsoka nodded.

"Good luck, and keep in touch!" Skywalker replied tapping his comm. 

The two young Force-sensitives nodded before running down a separate hallway. It was barely five minutes until they came to a stop at a locked door. Jogging over to the controls and hoping the code was the same to the ones they used at the palace, Reina inputted what she thought was the right sequence. The screen flashed red as a lump of ice trickled down her throat. Of course it wouldn't be the same as Zygeria. They were assholes, but they weren't stupid.

"Let me try." Ahsoka stepped forwards and tapped away at the console. She barely typed for thirty seconds before the screen switched to a green colour. "Bypass code." She said nonchalantly before turning her attention back to the more pressing matter at hand.

The floor of the holding cell of which twenty or thirty Togruta were standing in was slowly receding as a gaping pit opened underneath. Reina quickly realised that they were on the bottommost layer of the facility and that gaping pit was the massive one under the facility when they'd first arrived. Electricity arced through the room and the young girl spotted a few Togruta that had already passed out from nicking the cell walls.

"The Jedi!" A Togruta yelled as they spotted the two of them.

Ahsoka jumped across the gap with ease, but it took a moment for Reina to follow. The floor was already so far back, it would only take a Force-jump to get across, but she couldn't just stand there and do nothing. Checking that Ahsoka was distracted, she followed before too much attention could be drawn to her. Thankfully, it had seemed she hadn't noticed.

Reina comm link flashed and she activated the channel. It was Skywalker. "You're all clear Master Plo. Bring the cruiser down to the landing pad." He ordered.

Reina frowned. That wouldn't fix the problem of the slaves. Looking down, she sucked in a breath as the abyss seemed to go on forever, simply descending into darkness. The pit was so large, it could have probably swallowed half a Republic fleet...

Wait.

"Ahsoka!" She cried, an idea forming in her head.

The Togruta looked up, clearly seeing that same problem. "What?"

"How big are your Republic cruisers?" Reina asked.

"How does that matt-?"

"Could it fit in that hole?" The human cut her off and the padawan seemed to catch wind if her thoughts.

"Yes. Yes it could! If we call it down here-"

"Then we could bring it under the facility and get the slaves to safety on top of it!" Reina exclaimed. 

A grin broke out on Ahsoka's face. Lifting her arm, she activated her comm. "Cancel that order master. There's no way to get the prisoners out of the holding cell and up to the landing platform. But Ra-Kin has had an idea. We need to have the cruiser move in _under_ the facility. We can escape onto the ship if Admiral Cobert can get us close enough!" Slight static came through the comm but cleared up as a new voice entered the channel. 

"You heard Commander Tano. I want men topside with rocketpacks and cable guns." Reina assumed that it was the Admiral. 

"How long will it take for you to get here?" Reina spoke into her comm for the first time.

The answer was almost immediate. "T-minus sixty seconds approximately. Well done Ra-Kin. You've been a useful asset." Cobert replied. Perhaps if she were more innocent, or not struggling to uphold a failing charade, she would have cracked a smile but both her and the readers remained stoic, minds only set on the task that they were fast running out of time to complete.

Anxiety clawed at her stomach as Reina waited for the cruiser to arrive and sure enough, it wasn't long before the nose of a humongous metal ship glided in underneath them. Both human and Togruta winced as the front of the ship knocked one of the hanging signal beacons off the bottom of the facility but Reina's mind was soon taken off that when she saw the sheer size of the ship. 

The ship fit into the pit alright, but it was a squeeze to say the least. The whole ship was the shape of a triangle with the bridge rising higher that the main body of the ship. That unfortunately made it that despite how close the ship was, without a Force augmented landing you had a high chance of killing yourself on impact. It wasn't until Reina saw the troopers that she finally understood how they were getting out of the facility. Several clones in red and ivory armour sprinted along the top of the ship before firing their cable guns into the roof of the holding cell with the hollow sounds of jetpacks faintly audible over the sound of the cruiser below. Ahsoka turned to face the other Togrutas.

"Ok everyone, get ready. We'll have to go in groups." She commanded, adopting the leading commander voice that she'd developed over the years of serving in the military. The people nodded in agreement before grabbing onto the cords and sliding down on them to safety. All was going smoothly until Reina noticed a young woman with grey montrals and lekku struggling to grab the cable, which was just out of her reach. The young girl watched her lean further and further, and just as she was about to step in, she fell.

Suddenly she was watching Thea fall again, helpless to do anything. The guilt on her shoulders weighed even more like lead sacks. She watched her disappear over the ledge and it took every ounce of willpower in Reina's body to not leap down and catch her. Instead, she yelled for Ahsoka and the padawan dived off the edge after the Togruta. Reaching the ship before the prisoner, Ahsoka caught the Togruta safely and Reina breathed a sigh of relief. However was not the last to fall. More did, from panicked grasps missing the ropes or rapidly deteriorating space on the platform, but troopers caught them by flying to them with their jetpacks. One was about to topple over the edge when Reina lurched forwards and pulled him back. He gave her a look of gratitude before successfully getting the rope and sliding down. 

After the last had gone, Reina took one last look around the holding cell before running and leaping off the edge of the platform, just as it disappeared into the wall. For a moment, time slowed down. She knew that everything was still happening around her, but a rush of adrenaline coursed through her and she felt as if she was flying. Then time sped up again.

Reaching out, she grasped the cool cord underneath her fingers and hugged it tight as she slipped down towards the ship at an alarmingly fast rate. Gripping tighter, she felt her hands grow warm and slick with sweat as she tried to slow down, but the flexibility of the cable made it hard. Pressing her palms into the cord as hard as she could, she finally slowed down enough to put both feet down safely and she stepped away from the cord. Reina looked over to Ahsoka.

"That's everyone." Reina said.

One of the troopers ran over and addressed Ahsoka. "We have to go. The facility's breaking up."

The padawan nodded before glancing over to Reina and running towards the bridge of the ship as it pulled away from the facility. Over the comm link, Reina faintly heard Skywalker tell Master Plo that the cruiser was clear and the order for ships to fire. Allowing everyone to enter the stairwell between the bridge and top level of the main ship, she looked back at the facility just in time to see the torpedoes hit a support and a deep boom followed by a huge explosion followed. The support split and crumbled, taking the facility deep into the pit with it as towers toppled in a cloud of brown dust and red sparks.

And although a smile never passed her lips, one could have sworn to see a twinkle in her eye.

**OBI-WAN KENOBI**

Governor Roshti of Kiros walked through the hangar bay of the _Resolute,_ accompanied by several Jedi - Masters Kenobi, Plo Koon and of course, the infamous Skywalker along with his Togrutan padawan, Ahsoka Tano. The bay itself was in a flurry of activity, gunships flying low overhead and clones running back and forth, checking supply levels and helping the beaten-down slaves of Kavado.

"I thank you, the Jedi and the Republic for saving our lives." The Governor said gratefully, addressing Skywalker. 

However, Skywalker knew that the plan hadn't been his, and he wasn't about to take ownership of it. "Ahsoka and Ra-Kin are the real heroes. Without their creativity, I don't think we would have got the people to safety." He said, looking at his padawan proudly. Ahsoka's lekku stripes darkened a deep blue in embarrassment, but under the praise she wondered where Ra-Kin had gotten to. The human had disappeared soon after entering the ship and Ahsoka was worried that she'd accidentally wandered into a restricted area. She was pulled out her thoughts however as the Governor spoke again.

"Indeed. Padawan Tano? Might I have a word?"

"Of course." She said before bowing to her Masters and walking away with the Governor.

The masters walked away, giving them some privacy and R2-D2 rolled over to join the three men. 

"So, where is this Ra-Kin that I've heard so much about? I would like to meet the girl who came up with the idea." Master Plo Koon said to Skywalker.

Skywalker shrugged. "Last I saw of her was when she went with Ahsoka to free the slaves." He looked over to a nearby clone. "Denzel! Come here for a second."

The clone approached the Jedi immediately. "Is something wrong sir?"

"Not at all. We're looking for a girl. Fifteen, tall but underweight, brown hair in two plaits. She should have two knives on her."

"Yes sir, she's at the other end of the bay. Talking with some of the slaves who are traumatised with the medics. Still injured though." The clone replied before curiously adding, "Who is she?"

Anakin thought about the question. Of course she'd told him about her supposed "past", but something about the tale didn't quite ring true. Something was just nagging at Anakin, nothing more than a whisper in his head. He had no evidence but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. 

"Just someone who helped us on Zygeria." Anakin replied. "Thanks Denzel."

As they walked towards the other end of the bay, Anakin recounted the tale of his time on Zygeria and how he'd come to know Ra-Kin Ullilford. Both Jedi listened intently, but Anakin couldn't help but notice the frown that was beginning to stretch across Kenobi's face. He'd just finished the story when they got to the end of the hangar and sure enough, the young teenager was sat with a male Togruta, a hand on his shoulder and lips pressed in a tight grimace.

"There she is." Anakin pointed her out and Kenobi stopped dead in his tracks.

The girl before Obi-Wan bore a striking resemblance to the youngling that had once taken the ultimate sacrifice to save others. It wasn't really in the way she looked. This girl was much more ragged but matured, with more sallowed skin, not to mention the wound on her neck that was the length of her hand with bruises covering her arms. It was in the way she acted. Her posture was straight and her face shared the same look as when Reina was stressed when she was younger because she had another test or was struggling with her lightsaber training. And her eyes. Her eyes were _precisely_ the same, holding a gaze that was far from youthful. It was as if he was looking at Reina Tautaski as she would have been if she'd lived.

"Master Kenobi?" Plo Koon asked as he noticed the shade of white that Kenobi's face had drained to. "Are you alright?"

 _No,_ he thought.

"I'm fine Master Plo. I just thought I saw something." Kenobi dismissed it.

Reina Tautaski was not alive. Otherwise, he would have sensed it. In the time that they'd known each other when she was younger, Kenobi had taken an interest in her. She was different from the other kids, smarter. And the other younglings were far from dense. Much like Anakin at a young age in fact. Her whole demeanour was different. She always struggled with lightsaber training, the blade feeling clumsy and heavy in her hand, but had a natural talent for empathy, perhaps linking to her emotions a bit too much. 

Master Plo nodded and walked over to Ra-Kin, Kenobi hesitating before following. The girl's dark eyes shot up and she muttered a few more words to the man before patting his shoulder and approaching the Jedi. 

"Hello again Skywalker." She then noticed the two men stood with him and registered their lightsabers hanging by their belts. "And I don't believe that I've met either of you." The first thing Kenobi noticed was how she talked. She had a strong Zygerian accent, clipped and harsh, an accent from the capital. It was not difficult to tell that she had lived amongst royalty. On the other hand, whilst she spoke formally, it was in a tone that was polite but not warm. Her words were carefully crafted to sound respectful, but casual at the same time. She made it clear that they weren't her superiors.

Plo Koon held his hand out and she shook it, Kenobi repeating the gesture albeit warily. "I'm Master Plo Koon. This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I would like to congratulate you. You saved a lot of lives today."

Ra-Kin folded her arms as they turned to walk back across the hangar. "Not enough, I'm afraid. The people of Kiros will struggle with this for a long time." Skywalker grimaced, knowing what she was talking about with the previous comment. Before either of the other two Jedi had a chance to ask about it though, Ra-Kin spoke again. "Even once they are back to their planet, I worry that they will not have the courage to stand up to other threats after the trauma they have undergone. These are people of art, not resilience."

"We shall keep an eye on their system and ensure their safety. But what about for you? Now that you are free, where will you go?" Plo Koon asked.

"Hmph. 'Free' is more a term of interpretation. But should you mean physically..." She waved a hand in the air while letting out a sigh. "No idea. Probably find some work, get a small job, pick up tricks of a trade. Perhaps a cleaner." That could have been an ironic joke if her voice had not been so full of bitterness.

"So you wouldn't think about joining the army or navy then?"

Ra-Kin wrinkled her nose and paused. "And why would I do that?" She asked skeptically, raising her eyebrow.

Master Plo continued undeterred. "Not everyone can survive alone in a slave empire as large as that one. You clearly have a natural talent for survival and combat. You could be a great asset to the Republic, should you ever decide to join."

"I think for now, I've had enough conflict. But perhaps I will think about your offer in due time." She replied steadily. "You probably have many duties to attend to Masters. I'll leave you to it." She said.

"Yes. Thank you for your time Ra-Kin." Anakin said before he and Plo Koon walked away. Kenobi thought about following them, but changed his mind. He decided that he wanted to know more about this young girl. 

"A word, Ra-Kin?" He asked politely. Ra-Kin looked surprised but nodded and joined him as they continued to walk through the hangar. For a few minutes, only silence hung between them as Kenobi tried to figure out what to say. After all, he couldn't exactly just tell her that she was practically a ghost of a dead ten year old.

"Your clones are brave fighters." She interrupted his thoughts as she spoke. Kenobi followed her gaze to a group of the soldiers who were messing around, blowing off some steam from the battle. "They have a brotherhood of no army that I've ever seen. They're certainly different from the Zygerian guards. They just insulted each other most of the time, even if they were too handy with weapons for my personal liking." She stated flatly.

"Yes." Kenobi agreed. "They serve well and are incredibly loyal. I can put my life in their hands with little consideration."

"How long have you served with them?"

"Since the start of the war. This isn't my legion though. Mine is the 212th, dispatched to another Jedi Master now. This one is the 501st and 455th - Master Plo's and Master Skywalker's."

"Does it not bother you to be away from your men?" She asked cocking her head to the side.

Kenobi thought about his answer. "No. Not usually. They can take care of themselves, but I do think about them. They've saved my life many times." Kenobi paused before deciding to take the plunge. "However, I did not bring you here to speak about the war effort. Obviously you came into contact with many slaves on Zygeria. I do not suppose you came across anyone by the name of Reina?"

It seemed impossible that this girl could not hold any relation to Reina. She was too similar in too many ways. Just how she acted in herself, how she had continued to carry herself through struggles were reminiscent of the youngling. There was a small candle of hope inside him that prayed the girl had lived. That she hadn't been taken into the universe by an unfair death at the hands of pirates.

That a ten year old's fingerprints weren't left on the newly crafted lightsaber in the Jedi Archives that had never seen battle.

However, Ra-Kin looked mystified. And with a few words, Master Kenobi's candle was extinguished. As the ex-slave excused herself, part of him was numb. She was _so similar._ Obi-Wan had hoped that Ra-Kin was perhaps a relative, or even a friend who looked remarkably alike to Reina.

"Sir?" Kenobi turned to face Captain Rex who'd approached him.

"Yes Captain?" He asked.

"You're wanted on the bridge. The Jedi Council wants a full report on what happened." The clone trooper said.

Kenobi nodded. "Thank you. I'll be there in a minute."

Composing himself, the Jedi Master chided himself. Attachment was not the Jedi way. He was searching for something that wasn't there. Smoothing out the folds in his robes, he headed towards the bridge. And he was completely unaware, that a game changer was coming his way.

And so was the girl who had just walked away, deeply rattled by her conversation.

**\----Author's Note----**

**Ok, this one took a bit of battling with writer's block. I was okay until it got to where they were in the hangar bay. Then writer's block went something like this.**

**_Me: Ahhh finally, easy writing._ **

**_Writer's Block: Funny you should say that!_** 😈🙃😈🙃😈🙃😈🙃😈🙃😈🙃

**Yup. But it's done now! I just have to say, I'm really excited for this book. I'm planning on structuring it quite carefully so that it doesn't drag on for too long, but isn't a short book either. (Coming back in a later edit: Pffffftttt, yeah, this ain't happening.)**

**P.S. Sometimes I listen to music whilst writing, so I'll put in what I listened to.**

**Song: 'Cool Kids' cover by Symphonic Pop Covers (basically pop songs covered in string instruments) but original by Echosmith.**

**Tell me your thoughts in the comments! I love to interact with all of you guys!**

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	10. Part VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Anger leads to fear. And fear, leads to the dark side."

**AHSOKA TANO**

I stood beside my master in front of the Jedi Council silently whilst he, Master Kenobi and Master Plo gave their reports. We'd been in here for at least an hour and I could feel my energy levels starting to drop. My legs were aching and my thoughts were barely able to stay on the conversation for more than a few minutes at a time as the effects of jumping from time-zone to time-zone began to set in. Sure, I was used to it. It didn't make it any easier to manage though.

Despite the rest of the ship being in chaos from the sudden addition of all the slaves of Kiros, the communication room was mostly empty besides from a few high ranking clones and of course, the Jedi beside me. 

"Padawan Tano?"

The voice of Mace Windu shook me from my stupor and as everyone stared at me, I quickly realised that I'd missed something.

"Sorry masters?" I replied, mentally cursing myself for losing focus.

Windu looked slightly irritated but repeated his question. "Do you have anything to add?"

I paused and thought about my answer briefly. Anakin, Obi-Wan and Master Plo would have definitely covered it from a battle front, but I wondered wether they'd mentioned Ra-Kin. Something about the ex-slave didn't add up to me. For instance, down in the holding cell on Kadavo, she shouldn't have been able to jump the gap to the floor on the other side, yet when I looked back, she was right behind me. Little things, like the way she spoke. She always seemed to give enough to answer what she'd been asked, but no more. And when she took on the guards. Granted, they'd landed blows on her, but she'd taken them out fairly easily, and I was pretty sure that slave drivers didn't exactly teach self-defence to their servants.

 _No,_ I thought. These were concerns to share with Anakin first. The last thing I needed was worrying the Council for nothing, especially after I'd been caught not paying attention.

"No, masters."

"Very well. Return you shall, to Coruscant." Master Yoda spoke up. "Rest in these times, we all need." I heard a grim undertone to his voice and realised that he was right.

As more Separatist activity increased, it was becoming harder and harder to get a good nights rest. Often, Anakin and myself would have to take shifts when aboard the cruisers, taking turns in making sure everything ran smoothly. It was more so Anakin that would do that when I first became his padawan, as I was still learning the ropes and because of his insomnia, but as I'd matured and grown up, I'd started to take more responsibility. I realised how relieved I was to be going back to the Temple for at least a few days. 

The transmission cut off and Master Kenobi spoke up. "And what are we going to do with Ra-Kin? There isn't really anywhere to stay for her once we reach Coruscant."

"I'll go and see if she's given any more thought to my suggestion. If she agrees, then she'll be able to stay at a military base." Master Plo said.

"Well in that case then, I'll go and help the men down in the hangar. It's all hands on deck at the moment with the Togrutans onboard." Master Kenobi replied before leaving the room with Master Plo. As soon as they were gone, Anakin turned to me, looking a mix of disapproving and concerned.

"What's up with you then? It's not like you to lose focus in a meeting." He asked.

"I'm not sure. It might just be because I'm tired. What was Master Plo talking about?" 

Anakin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, finally allowing stress to become evident on his face now that his peers had left. "He suggested that Ra-Kin tries to find a job in the Republic. He feels that with some training from experts, she might amount to something - a spy maybe."

I gave him a skeptical look, sensing that he had another opinion on the matter. "And you think she can't?"

"No! She's clearly got something special if she can last all these years alone, but well... come on Snips, haven't you sensed it? Something isn't right about her. I know a seasoned liar when I see one, and I see one in her."

I thought about my suspicions from earlier. "Yes, something is up, for certain. Back on Kadavo, something happened down in the holding cell. As you know, it was suspended over the pit and by the time we got the door open, it was too late to jump across normally. There was no way that Ra-Kin should have been able to get across, yet when I turned around, she was right behind me."

Anakin frowned. "That's... interesting."

"What is it?" I had the feeling that he wasn't only talking about the incident in the holding cell.

"Before the queen died, Ra-Kin came through to the back of the ship. The queen spotted her and called her over, calling her not Ra-Kin, but _Reina._ She claimed after that it was a Zygerian insult name that the queen gave slaves, after the words "to reign" and she was trying to make her fell like the queen had power over her, but even when I was a boy, my slave driver called me by my name. He never did anything like that, but then again, they don't exactly have the same cultures on Tatooine as they do on Zygeria." He replied. "We may want to ask Obi-Wan. He may have noticed something."

I nodded and we headed down to the hangar. Clones saluted us as we walked past and it struck me just how much had changed since becoming Anakin's padawan. When I'd first started out with my single lightsaber, I'd been so inexperienced. I'd gotten on Anakin's nerves at times - I knew that much. Clones used to look at me as if I was a crying baby that had been dumped on them to look after. Over the course of the war, I'd fought tooth and nail to be recognised as more than the youngling who'd gotten a promotion. It had been difficult to say the least, especially when I had so much to live up to in Anakin - The Chosen One, the Hero With No Fear ect.

But he'd been a good master and taught me patience, even if he sometimes lacked in it himself. He'd instantly adapted to my learning style and knew how I thought and acted. Reflecting on one of Anakin's first statements to me on Christophsis, saying that I never would have made it as Master Kenobi's padawan, I knew that he was right. Lightsaber principals and techniques were a breeze for me, but when it came to balancing emotion and mandates, I was a slow learner. Obi-Wan wouldn't have been able to put up with my reckless antics. Even Master Yoda had stated that now that Anakin had me, we were twice the trouble. 

But now, I'd matured. Grown. After adopting the Shien reverse grip and using a shoto, I'd started excelling in my primary lightsaber form: Ataru. Under Anakin's influence, I'd also started using traces of Djem So and continued practicing Shien. I'd made a name for myself and was no longer the annoying padawan. I was Ahsoka Tano. I had taken on Ventress and Grevious and come out alive. And whilst I was proud of this, I knew there was still much more for me to learn.

As the hangar bay doors snapped open, I came back to the present and instantly zeroed in on Master Kenobi giving orders to a group of clones. He must have sensed us, because he turned and walked towards us before we were anywhere near him. 

"Anakin, Ahsoka." He greeted. 

"Obi-Wan, may we ask you a question. It's about this girl, Ra-Kin." The Jedi Master remained calm, but his expression instantly went passive as if there was something he was trying to hide. "Me and Ahsoka both have reasons to think that there's something off about her. Have you noticed anything... I don't know, suspicious about her?" Anakin went on to tell him about their various encounters that didn't add up and the more he said, the paler Master Kenobi's face became. Especially when Anakin talked about her name with the queen. 

Glancing around, Master Kenobi leaned in and spoke. "This isn't a conversation for public ears." He said before walking off towards the turbolifts. I exchanged a puzzled glance with Anakin. This behaviour was highly unusual from Master Kenobi. He was normally very calm and collected, yet this seemed to have rattled him. We followed him wordlessly to a turbolift and stepped inside. Master Kenobi punched in numerous floors so that the lift would go up and down for a while without actually opening. Once the doors shut, my master turned to face Master Kenobi.

"Alright Obi-Wan. Spit it out. Why are you acting so jumpy?"

"Do you remember when you were a padawan Anakin?"

"What does that-?"

"Just listen." Master Kenobi said. "About five years before the war first broke out, there was the group of younglings that were attacked?"

"Well yes. And there was one that stayed behind..." Anakin paused for a moment before his eyes widened. "No. That's impossible!"

I huffed, slightly frustrated. "Care to speak in more than vague sentences?" I asked.

"Ahsoka, of course you know that most younglings go to Ilum to get their first lightsaber crystals."

"Yes, I got both of mine from there." I said, still confused. I couldn't figure out why they were being so secretive.

"Once, a group of seven younglings went to get their crystals. They were accompanied by a specialised droid, that was _supposed_ to contact the council immediately if trouble arose. So they made the journey back to Coruscant effectively alone." Anakin explained.

"Alone? That doesn't sound like to smartest idea to me."

"These initiates a more advanced group. We thought they could manage what was supposed to be a simple return journey." Obi-Wan took over the story. "On the way back, they were attacked by a group of pirates who worked for Hondo. They didn't know that there were younglings aboard, but they didn't really care either. The younglings got to the escape pods, but one of them realised that they hadn't wiped the navigation memory."

"So the pirates would have known where every lightsaber has been built _and_ where the kyber crystals are found." I pieced together.

Master Kenobi nodded. "The eldest tricked the younglings into leaving her behind and she went to wipe the memory. Then she disappeared."

A moment of silence followed before I frowned. "Disappeared? How? The Jedi have spies and allies across the galaxy, no-one can just disappear."

"Well this girl did." Anakin said darkly. "A search team was sent out - both me and Master Kenobi were part of it - but we found nothing and no-one. Even the droid was gone. In fact the only thing we did find, was her lightsaber. She'd dropped it in the escape pod that the other younglings had taken. We tracked her across the galaxy but fell short of something and we hit a dead end. None of the masters could sense her anymore in the Temple, not even Master Yoda when he was in deep meditation. She'd simply vanished. Her lightsaber was put in the archives and she was presumed dead. Case closed."

"So how does this relate to Ra-Kin?"

Master Kenobi looked at Anakin uncertainly but went ahead with what he was saying. "Well... I knew this particular youngling. I'd try to teach her where I could, but I had Anakin as a padawan at the time. Anyway, the youngling... she was called Reina, Ahsoka. Reina Tautaski."

I blanched slightly. "But, you said yourself that Reina was dead. Not even Master Yoda could find her."

"That's what I thought too Ahsoka. But now, after seeing Ra-Kin, I'm not so sure. The way she acts is so similar to the way Reina did. She was a rather... individual youngling. She always acted slightly older than her age. Little things that I picked up when she was younger like her body language, is almost identical to that of Ra-Kin's." Master Kenobi said. The turbolift doors opened again and we walked out. I noticed that we were heading towards our intel room, usually used for decrypting Separatist messages. "That's why I've brought us here. If anyone can find out who Ra-Kin Ullilford is, then our intelligence can." He finished as we came to a stop at the doors.

There was a small panel at the side of the door with a black screen. Master Kenobi pressed a small buzzer and after a few moments, a clone's face appeared on the screen.

"Authorisation." He asked.

"General Kenobi of the 212th legion, Jedi Master requesting entry with General Skywalker of the 501st legion, Jedi Knight and Commander Tano of the 501st legion, Jedi Padawan." Master Kenobi recited without tripping over a single syllable. There were a few moments of silence as the clone checked over our details.

"Ok, you check out. Come in." He replied before the screen went dark again.

The doors opened to a circular room filled with computers just about everywhere. Listening radios were to the left of the room and radars were to the right wall whilst there was a raised dais in the centre, which had a holo-table in the centre. The clone from the screen walked up to us.

"Jedi. Captain Tripwire sirs." He saluted.

"Nice to meet you. I need you to try and look into someone aboard the ship, Ra-Kin Ullilford." Master Kenobi said, straight down to business. 

Trip walked towards the back of the room with us following and sat down in front of a computer. "Where should we start?"

"Try a name search through known slavery and organised crime groups." Anakin suggested from next to me. "If she was passed from buyer to buyer like it looked like she was when we were looking for her, then there might be a record."

"Yes sir." Trip answered and ran the name. He frowned. "Nothing. As far as we know, there has been no Ra-Kin Ullilford through any organised crime or slavery groups that we know of." He said.

Master Kenobi's brows knitted together. "That doesn't make sense. We know that she was passed through Hondo's and the Zygerian's groups, so why isn't her name there?"

"Unless she didn't use her alias." Anakin suggested.

"Do you have a DNA sample?" Tripwire asked.

"Hold on. The medics patched her up after the mission. She'll be in their history." I mentioned.

Anakin nodded. "That's a good point. Let's try there."

We waited anxiously whilst Tripwire tapped away. Finally, he said, "Here. Yes, they have quite a bit down, from her blood type to age and height." 

"Good." Master Kenobi said. "I need you to cross-reference a DNA scan with deceased Jedi in the past six years."

Tripwire turned to look at him strangely. "Sorry sir?"

Obi-Wan gave him a hard look. "Believe me captain, if our suspicions are true, then you'll soon find out why we're doing this. Something like this won't stay silent for long."

Tripwire seemed to let it drop and did as Master Kenobi asked. We watched silently as names flicked by too fast to read and I was surprised at just how many there were. The list stopped.

The picture of the Jedi was of a youngling, with youthful rosy cheeks and a bright playful expression. Her hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders and to any normal onlooker, she looked like a normal Jedi youngling. Shockingly different from how she was now.

"Aged nine, presumed dead. The DNA scan shows up identical with this girl. Uhh, Reina Tautaski, it says here." Tripwire said, peering at the screen. A stunned silence fell over us. How could someone who went missing at nine have survived in the galaxy that young? Anakin managed as a slave, but he at least had his mother. This girl had been completely alone.

Master Kenobi looked as if he was about to say something when suddenly, the door burst open. Captain Rex stood in the doorway, looking very grim. He walked straight up to Anakin. "Sir, something just went down in the hangar. General Plo has not been able to find Ra-Kin Ullilford anywhere."

We all exchanged looks. "I talked to her earlier and asked her if she knew anyone called Reina. She must have realised that I could see something was up. Reina's going to try and escape. We need to get down to the hangar, she'll try and take a ship!" Master Kenobi said as we ran out the door to the turbolift. On the way down, he activated his comm to Admiral Cobert. "Admiral, I need you to shut the blast doors in the hangar. We have a stowaway on board."

Static was the only thing that came back. I tried mine and so did Rex and Anakin but only to get the same result. "She must have activated a local jammer. It has to be from the cargo bay. That's the only place we keep them." Anakin said as the turbolift doors opened. We entered the hangar again and Anakin pulled two clones to one side. "There's a local comm jammer somewhere in the cargo bay. I need you two to locate and find it. Tell the other clones that you see." He commanded and they nodded before running off to find it.

"She'll be here somewhere." I said looking out across the hangar. It was difficult to spot anyone in particular because of the sheer quantity of people with the added slaves of Kiros and the vast size of the hangar itself. Suddenly, a flash of brown hair caught my eye and I pointed towards Reina. "Over there!" I shouted before taking off towards her, Master Kenobi, Anakin and Rex in tow. 

"Reina!" Master Kenobi shouted. "Stop!"

I saw her stiffen and whip around to face him before running towards the other end of the hangar where the fighters were. Sprinting after her, I used my flexibility to somersault over obstacles in my path and dart around people, however she was fast and still difficult to catch. My comm link then burst to life. "We have found the jammer and it's disabled!" A troopers voice came over the channel. Although it hadn't taken long for them to find it, it had done its job. Reina had the head start, and she was moving fast. I heard Master Kenobi relay the order to shut the blaster doors to the Admiral once again and this time, I watched as the metal sheets slowly started to slide over the doors. Reina also seemed to notice this and put on a burst of speed. Anakin and Obi-Wan were further back now, held up by the crowds and I couldn't see Rex anywhere. 

We were more than halfway across the hangar now and people started to notice the commotion. Reina, like me used her surroundings to her advantage, jumping onto a LAAT gunship wing and running over the top of it before leaping over onto a AT-AT battle tank being surprisingly agile for her physical state. She flipped and pranced her way through the people, no longer bothering to hide her Force-talents. At one point, I used the Force to try and pull some crates down on top of her, but she simply sent them flying with a Force-push and it struck me that she still had a strong connection to the Force.

The first fighter came into view. She made a beeline for it and I knew that whilst I was closing distance between us, I wasn't going to catch her in time. She reached the fighter, attempting to throw herself in the cockpit and it looked like she was going to get away, but suddenly and completely out of nowhere, Rex leaped out from the crowd and tackled her from mid-air, sending both of them sprawling. 

They were soon on their feet though and circling, both ready for a fight. Rex was the first to attack, throwing a punch, but she threw up her forearms to block it before ducking another and leaning to the side, barely missing his fist. Using her superior flexibility, she sent a kick to his head, but it was a foolish move as it left her vulnerable even if she did just clip him before grabbing his arm and attempting to twist it. However she had gotten into a fight of strength now and he easily ripped away from her and managed to knee her in the gut, causing her to double over. He forced her onto her knees and pinned her arms behind her back, both of them panting as she struggled, but now Rex had the leverage of height and strength. Anakin and Obi-Wan both appeared, also breathing heavily from their sprint, but they'd soon recover within a few moments. 

Master Kenobi looked at Reina with an expression that was hard to decipher. "Reina..." he trailed off. 

She didn't bother replying, and instead just struggled harder, almost breaking Rex's grip on her once or twice. 

Anakin sighed. "Move her to the holding cells." He ordered, but as soon as Reina was on her feet, she fought back fiercely, completely ripping away from Rex at one point, but he caught her before she could get anywhere. She tried to head butt him, of which he narrowly missed. Any remnant of control which she had previously held earlier was far gone, a wild light dancing in her eyes like a cornered animal. It quickly became clear just how much slavery had mentally done to her.

"Stun her." Master Kenobi said, slightly remorsefully as if he'd just ordered an animal to be put down. "We'll never get anywhere with her like this."

A clone called Ido nodded and raised his blaster, flicking it to stun. She went limp immediately. We watched as she was dragged away to the holding cells. One of the masters would probably go in there to interrogate her later. 

Master Kenobi sighed. "She's certainly not the girl I once knew."

Anakin scowled. "Slavery does that to you master. Come on Snips. We need to go and report to Admiral Cobert why he has a fifteen year old girl in his prisoner block."

As we left, I took one more look back at Master Kenobi, who was watching Reina be carried away. 

**REINA TAUTASKI**

_"Stun her..."_

_"I heard that she was a Jedi..."_

_"She's a traitor..."_

_"How messed up... to have scars like those...?"_

_"I don't know sirs... rarely crossed paths with her... just wondered who she was...."_

_"She's certainly not the girl... once knew..."_

_"Reina... happened to you..?"_

Voices, some of which I recognised, some of which I didn't swirled around my head, mixing into one big incomprehensible mess. My mind became more active, wondering where I was but I didn't want to go back. Not yet. I wanted to float through the limbo that surrounded me, remain in the peace that was so different from my actual messed up life, but I felt something tugging, pulling me back to consciousness. 

My senses started to come back. I felt a smooth surface underneath my back, cool and hard. The room smelled faintly of cleaning chemicals and I could hear the hum of machinery buzzing away quietly and the muffled shuffling of feet nearby. Slowly, I cracked my eyes open. I was on the floor. A dark, cold, metal room with a transparent red ray shield covering the door greeted me and I frowned as I sat up, but almost instantly laid back down. My muscles in my back were sore, suggesting that I'd been laid there a while and I was dizzy. Falling back into my memories, I scrambled to recall what happened.

Kenobi asking me about myself. Panicking. Finding the comm jammers. Trying to run. Getting stunned. Right.

Slowly, I propped myself against the wall as I attempted to get rid of the last of my grogginess. My head started to clear and I pulled myself onto a chair in front of a table in the room. A clone noticed my movements and nodded to a second one before walking off but I didn't care. There was no way that I was getting through that ray shield without outside help or a pass. 

I was sat there for almost half an hour until I heard multiple sets of footsteps. Looking up, I resisted the urge to crawl back into a corner. The Jedi. The ray shield deactivated and Kenobi stepped in along with Skywalker. Ahsoka and Plo Koon stayed outside as the shield was reactivated. 

I smiled with no warmth. "So. I'm actually surprised that it took you that long to figure out who I was."

"I had my suspicions." Kenobi said, sitting in a chair across from me. He gave me a hard look, like the ones that he gave me when I was younger and had done something that I knew I shouldn't have in the Temple. I stared straight back, not allowing the slightest emotion to flicker across my face. I couldn't show weakness. Not now.

"The staring game isn't going to work anymore Kenobi. I'm not nine." I stated flatly sitting back in my chair, arms crossed and allowing my head to fall to one side slightly, doing anything to counter the suggestion that my heart was pounding through my chest and that it felt like I had a rope tied around each lung, constricting and starving me of oxygen.

He sighed through his nose. "Yes I'm aware if that. The Reina that I knew wouldn't have acted in this manner."

Something about that comment got under my skin. "Don't speak to me like I'm a misbehaving child. The "Reina" that you knew was innocent and wouldn't accept the reality of the galaxy if it came and slapped her in the face. She lived under the delusion that she was safe. Well guess what Kenobi? Slavery destroyed her." I didn't speak the next words but the sentence that I wanted to say didn't need speaking. 

_Now, I'm all that's left._

"Why did you try to run?" Skywalker asked coldly.

I snorted and sat back in my seat, shaking, my head in disbelief. All of that on Zygeria, and I was stuck in a cell, all over again. A prisoner.

"You're angry." Kenobi said flatly.

"I'm angry?" I laughed slightly, the ball of resentment and anger that I'd carried around for so long expanding in my chest like a water balloon. "Really? What tipped you off? Maybe the fact that I was enslaved for years, and abandoned by an Order that I trusted! Maybe the fact that after all I did to help you, you've thrown me in a _prison cell_!"

"You didn't make yourself look innocent exactly when you tried to escape without telling someone and jammed our comms." Skywalker spoke up.

"And what! I _should_ have told someone? Yes, because that would have gone down _really_ well!" I snarled back.

"Anger is not the Jedi way." Obi-Wan said, maddeningly calm.

I paused at that and chuckled bitterly. "Well, we can't all be as perfect as you now can we? Some of us don't have people coming to save our asses the moment we get into a spot of bother." I had no idea where the pure venom in my words was coming from, but malice now spilled from my tongue, tainting the atmosphere in the room.

Suddenly, the back of my neck prickled and a dreadful feeling seeped into me. There was a small tickle at the back of my mind like a feather and with a start, I realised what Skywalker and Kenobi had been trying to do this whole time. Putting up my mental shields, I forced both of them out with some effort and my eyes flashed murderously. Force knows how much they saw. Skywalker raised an eyebrow at me. I glared back as Kenobi stood up.

"That will be all Reina. This has been... enlightening." Kenobi said and I glowered at him so hard, I was amazed that two holes didn't melt into the back of his head.

They left the cell and a metal door snapped over the ray shield blocking my view from the outside world. I stared at the shut door for a solid thirty seconds before I swallowed my anger and resisted the urge to flip the table in front of me. Instead, I hunched over and braced my head between my hands before exhaling deeply through my nose.

What had I gotten myself into?

**\----Author's Note----**

**Wow. Another depressing ending for Smudgie. Well done me. Gold star for depressing endings.**

**So, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka pieced together the puzzle. I gave you guys some action in this chapter, but I wanted it to be more focused on the character's suspicion over Reina. And besides, we haven't heard much from Ahsoka really. I also wanted to point out Obi-Wan's disappointment in Reina, because he thought that she could've amounted to something.**

**Thnx**   
**Smudgie xoxo**


	11. Part VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Old sins cast long shadows."

**OBI-WAN KENOBI**

"Initiate Reina Tautaski? Alive, she is?"

The three Jedi aboard the _Resolute_ looked deadly serious, yet Master Yoda found it difficult to believe that the now-fifteen year old that he'd taught as a youngling was living and breathing. The rest of the Jedi Council looked equally surprised, even the normally stoic Mace Windu. 

"I have no doubt about it. "Ra-Kin's DNA scans match with Reina's. Besides, we managed to catch a small glimpse into her mind. That girl in the holding cell is Reina Tautaski. I'm sure of it." Obi-Wan said firmly.

"Where did you find her? And how has she remained hidden? Master Yoda couldn't sense her, even in deep meditation." Master Windu sat forward in his seat.

"We are not sure. She was always skilled with the Force, but blocking a Jedi Master out is something completely different. I believe that it may have something to do with how she has changed. You were sensing for the old Reina."

Anakin snorted before interjecting. "That was most certainly not the old Reina."

Master Yoda frowned. "Troubling, this is. See, what did you?"

"We only had time to glimpse into her younger life to confirm it was her before she noticed us Masters." Anakin replied and Obi-Wan strained not to react to that comment. Perhaps that was only what Anakin had seen, but the case was not exactly the same for Kenobi.

What Kenobi had seen was horrible. It had only gone past in flashes, but he remembered backbreaking work in hot mines, only to be relocated to a place in which she was frequently whipped to the point of scars. Days and days without food, but most of all, the overwhelming sense of hopelessness he'd felt. Looking out at the sky every night and knowing that she was going to spend the rest of her life there until the queen got bored of her and had her killed off or sent back to the mines.

Yoda spoke again, drawing Obi-Wan from his thoughts. "Report to the military, perhaps we should."

"No!" Kenobi said before he could stop himself. The Council turned to look at him. A few raised their eyebrows at his outburst. Kenobi cleared his throat. "I mean, this is an internal affair of the Jedi. The Chancellor and military don't need anything more to worry about. I suggest refraining from telling them _anything_ about Reina until we know more." He continued in a more reasonable tone. Anakin was glaring at him out the corner of his eye and Ahsoka looked surprised, but he stuck to his guns under the gaze of the Council.

Many glances were exchanged and some heads shook as the Council conversed among themselves silently, but then Mace Windu turned back to the Jedi on the _Resolute_. "The Council have agreed to your request Master Kenobi. In the meantime, Master Skywalker, get your men back to Kamino to rest. They will have two rotations before being deployed to Felucia. Council dismissed."

The transmission flickered off and instantly, Skywalker rounded on Kenobi. "What's the problem with telling the Chancellor? He can be trusted!"

"Anakin, this is an internal affair, and I do not want the military sticking their noses in matters where they are not concerned." Obi-Wan replied harshly but quietly. Anakin recoiled, surprised by his former Master's tone. 

In Obi-Wan's opinion, the military were already involved with the Jedi much more than he would like, and the last thing he wanted would be someone like Tarkin poking around Reina's case, especially seen as she seeming didn't care what happened to her at the moment and would say the wrong thing, gaining an angry military leader after her head. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He said before brushing past his former Padawan.

As he exited the room, Anakin leaned heavily on the holo-table behind him, suddenly feeling very tired. Ahsoka walked over to him and put a comforting hand on his arm.

"Well. That was interesting." She said, before folding her arms.

Anakin chuckled lightly at his Padawan's simplistic summary. "That's an understatement. Come on Snips. It's late and I want food. Let's leave Obi-Wan to his business." He said before walking out too, Ahsoka in tow, but both master and Padawan were troubled with Obi-Wan's request.

Kenobi, in the meantime had made his way down to the holding cells once again, and stood outside the door to Reina's cell, slightly unsure of why he was there. He hadn't really been paying attention to where he was walking, just needing some air from the oppression of Anakin's judgement on his decisions. It seemed that his feet had led him here. He glanced over to the guard and nodded for him to open the door, deciding to try and speak with Reina one more time.

The door opened with a snap and the humming of the ray shield disappeared. The room was dim and Kenobi had to squint to see the figure huddled in the corner, watching him warily with glistening, dark eyes. Her hair had fallen in messy tendrils around her face and her face was devoid of emotion, her skin holding a pale, luminescent quality. 

Kenobi signalled for the guard to shut the door and sat on the opposite side of the room. For a moment, there was nothing but silence between them, a thick wall of tension and mistrust; the remnant of a bond that was once forming, but snapped brutally before it could secure, leaving it unfinished and unhealed, like a scar on both of the two humans.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Silence was his only response.

"Then again, you've probably been counting the days."

_The years._

"I'm not leaving. You can give me that empty stare all you want, but I know that you're still in there."

"How do you know that?" She suddenly replied, tone flat and unreadable. "How do you know I'm still me? Face the facts, you haven't even seen me in six years. You didn't even recognise me." Reina sat forwards, her guarded expression shifting into the cool light.

"I cannot say you are the same. But your morales of care remain. I can sense it." Reina scoffed at this and rolled her eyes. "I can _see_ it. After your friend that Anakin told me about Thea-"

"You-" She held up a hand, her eyes as hard as stone, but her voice held a small quiver. Her hand trembled. "-are treading on some thin ice here."

Obi-Wan considered his next words carefully, lacing his fingers. "You showed the same compassion for her that I saw in you from a very young age."

Reina nodded solemnly before speaking again, venom starting to seep through her voice. "So that's what you're basing your "analysis" on? That I still care? Well guess what Kenobi, I wouldn't be here anymore if I didn't care! I wouldn't have fought! But I did! For six - _six years_ \- I held out hope that anyone would come! But the minutes turned to hours, which turned to days, which turned to months, which turned to years. And I finally made the realisation that I was alone." Her voice cracked.

Kenobi studied her, his hand instinctively going to his beard, a habit he'd developed when thinking. As soon as he'd brought up a sensitive subject, she'd fired back with toxicity as if it was her own form of protection. People dealt with talking about things they didn't want to talk about in different ways. Some closed up like a flower, others became emotional, and some angry. But it seemed that Reina had developed a manner of defence in which she would use her words to overcome her opponent, causing them to doubt themselves to turn their attention away from her, to open old wounds that cut deep. And the most depressing part was that it was no doubt the same technique that slavers had used on her.

"And you know that I was." She said with a finality before leaning back with an expression that almost dared Kenobi to try and contradict her. To any normal person, she would have looked like a hardened girl. It was only because Kenobi had seen the horrors of war that he could tell she was traumatised. Her words were her shield acting in defence and deflecting away the pain by channelling it into forcing her enemy to back down.

"I am so sorry." Kenobi finally said, a sombre expression on his face. "I am sincerely sorry that such a burden was forced upon you that it has made you this way, this person you claim to be."

"What are you talking about?" Her posture became stiff as the conversation veered from her control.

"Perhaps you can become this husk of a person, as you portray. You have most people aboard this ship fooled. Keeping up a charade of stability and focus, when really, it's a cover. You have a choice at this point Reina. This person, this ex-slave that I see before me now, you can become her if you wish. But you shall be sacrificing the greatest opportunity you'll ever have. Rejoining the Order." Reina opened her mouth to speak, but Kenobi cut her off. The only way to reason with Reina was to speak her language; bluntness. "The Force has given you a second chance. You have the power in your hands to become the Jedi Knight you were once on course for. But if you want to become somebody living on the backstreets of a random planet, then please be my guest. However, this is a pivotal moment in your life and for your future, and you know that. But what's your move?"

For the first time in the conversation, Reina faltered. Her expression drew into one of tight conflict, like trapping a storm in a glass bottle. Kenobi stood up and turned to leave, but she spoke one last time before he reached the door.

"My life shall not be one of pointlessness, Master Kenobi. I can assure you of that."

This time she spoke softly but firmly, as a statement and not a suggestion. Kenobi only nodded, the weight of her using his title hanging in the air. 

They had said all they needed for today.

*

After talking with Reina, Obi-Wan figured he better go and make his peace with Anakin after that disastrous Council meeting. Running into Rex, he'd asked the soldier where the young man was.

Obi-Wan couldn't see Rex's face but could hear the amusement in his voice. "Last I saw of General Skywalker, he was pacing the charting room."

Typical. Both Rex and Obi-Wan knew Anakin should be sleeping as it was Ahsoka's shift to oversee operations, but as usual, his old apprentice wasn't thinking about the benefits of good health. On the way up in the turbo-lift, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, mentally preparing himself for the upcoming conversation with Anakin. In his opinion, Anakin was far too close with the Chancellor for his tastes, but the boy refused to separate himself from his attachments. Unfortunately, Obi-Wan had little influence over him anymore since his promotion to knighthood. Stepping out of the turbo-lift, he entered the charting room, instantly picking up on Anakin's distressed Force-signature.

"Aren't you supposed to be off-shift?" Kenobi probed, not sure whether Anakin would playfully banter back or snap his head off.

To his surprise, neither answered him. "Couldn't sleep." His old Padawan said flatly. When it came to his health, Anakin was rarely honest. Kenobi started to wonder just how long it actually _had_ been since the young man had had any sleep. There was a short silence as Obi-Wan didn't really know how to respond to that. "Why are you so interested in Reina? I know that you knew her when she was young... but I feel like I'm missing part of the puzzle." Anakin confronted him.

Obi-Wan was momentarily taken aback by the question. Frowning, he answered. "I suppose you remember when you first met Ahsoka."

Anakin frowned, unsure of where his former master was taking this. "Yes?"

"What was your first take and impression of her?"

"Well snippy, of course. Rash, undisciplined, too lighthearted. She didn't exactly strike me as Padawan material."

"What changed? And just humour me." Kenobi asked, quickly adding the latter at Anakin's slightly irritable expression.

"I realised that she was smarter and quicker than anyone gave her credit for, me included. I also suppose that I can relate with her. After the mission over Ryloth, when she lost her squadron, I realised that she did in fact register what the war was doing... I don't know, we just get along." He finished, waving his hand in the air absentmindedly. "Why ask?"

Kenobi perched himself on the edge of a desk. "When I first met Reina, what you must understand was that I was far from impressed with her. In fact, the only reason that I even noted that she was there was because of a rather heated discussion with one of the crèche matrons that had escalated and she was using words that she should not have known at that age. She - like Ahsoka - was undisciplined, and I just assumed that she wouldn't pass the Padawan Trials and would be reassigned. But then, I accompanied Master Yoda to a few of his sessions with her class for a day. She caught my eye several times, despite her being slightly clumsy with the blade in lightsaber practice. I mentioned it to Master Yoda and he noted how aware she was. Her reflex times were almost that of a Padawan's and she was only... six, when I first met her." Obi-Wan said, pausing for a moment to recall.

"Her Force-perception was advanced for someone her age, to say the least, and underneath the clumsiness of her behind a blade, I saw a glimpse of talent in combat. Slowly, I realised that with the right tuition, she might amount to something. Of course I wasn't going to put her forward for Padawanhood. She wasn't ready and if she had got the wrong master, then it could have made things backpedal. But I approached her and talked to her. I got to know her, and it soon came to light that she was not what I originally thought. Like every youngling, if she was placed in a battle zone, she would have probably been dead sooner or later, but I reckoned that it would be later over sooner. She was more intelligent than most. Her vocabulary was ahead of all the other younglings as well as her maths skills and I came to learn that she wasn't just the rash child that I'd first noticed. Over the next few years that she grew and when the beginning of the wars really began to make an impact, she grew up even more. And then there was my last visit. Before Ilum. She was virtually climbing the walls. Her first lightsaber. I had a bad feeling about the visit from the start, but she was so happy, I didn't want to bring her down. The day when her transport was attacked - that was the day that I truly learned to trust my instincts."

"She sounds like a different person. So you already knew her, more so than I originally thought." Anakin said, starting to understand.

Obi-Wan nodded. "She was. But also, she reminded me of myself as a youngling. Hasty, unprepared-"

Anakin snorted. "You, unprepared? Please."

"Ask Master Yoda. I often replied on strength over Force abilities when I was younger, winning my duels by force. I didn't understand the values of a Jedi. But that is besides the point. Like you and Ahsoka, we just understood each other. I could understand how she would best grow as a Jedi, which methods to use in teaching, how to explain things. In all honesty Anakin, I partly feel guilty for the transport getting attacked. If I'd have told someone, _anyone,_ about my instincts, then maybe the trip would have been delayed. Now, I have a chance to make things right. And I intend to."

Anakin's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry master, I didn't know."

"Don't be Anakin. I couldn't have expected you to. But I know that Reina can be something special. You saw her in the hangar. Her abilities with the Force have only got stronger and even Ahsoka had trouble catching her. Had Rex not been there... well, I think she'd be long gone." Obi-Wan pointed out.

Anakin nodded. "I agree. But remember Obi-Wan, this is an ex-slave we're talking about. You and I both know that they don't exactly have the same mindset as the rest of the Order, or the galaxy for that matter."

"I know. But I have faith in her. Just as I had faith in you. Now, it's late. Try and get some sleep Anakin. We don't need you passing out in the middle of the field now, do we?" Kenobi grinned.

Anakin just smiled and shook his head as his former master left the room. But the smile soon faded from his face as he thought about the long journey back to Coruscant. On the other hand though, at least he may be able to see Padmé. The smile returned at the thought of that and he decided to heed Obi-Wan's advice for once and sleep with the thoughts of his angel.

And for once, Anakin slept peacefully.

 **REINA** **TAUTASKI**

_As my eyes opened, I squinted harshly by a blinding light. Blinking, I pushed myself off the floor as I studied my surroundings. Steel bars supported a low roof above me as I registered the cage that I resided in. By the looks of it, I was in a cargo bay and the blinding light had come from a harsh floodlight fixed to the ceiling. Registering cuffs around my hands and feet, I also realised I had a gag on. As I studied where I was more, the details became horribly familiar._

_I was back on the pirate's ship. I could never forget the place which started so many days of misery. The cargo bay was huge, a towering circular room with rising platforms that led to doors embedded in the walls about six feet up. In other cages, I could see animals, beautiful, ugly and rare being kept, wild and untamed. Some looked battered, shedding feathers or fur, whilst others held an evil glint to their eye, a look of a feral beast. I wondered whether they'd put me with them as some kind of sick joke. Suddenly, the door opened on a small platform above me and suddenly, I became conscious of what was going on._

_I was dreaming._

_It wasn't the first time I'd relived memories. It happened frequently, and I knew that I couldn't stop it. I just had to relive it, again and again, until the dream was over._

_On the platform, a stranger stood. He was one of the pirates, but it was not the same person who'd captured me initially. This man was slightly shorter, but no less intimidating. He had two long braids and wore a bandana with a rifle slung over his back. Thick, steel tipped boots pounded on the floor as he walked, and he had an angry scar, running from his temple to his jaw. I watched as his gaunt face studied the cargo before him, before his eyes finally rested on me. Crouching down next to my cage, he grinned maliciously._

_"_ _Of course that idiot would bring someone hard to sell back. But I'm sure we'll find a place for you_ _." He hissed through the bars._

_I opened my mouth to fire back but no sound came out and the image began to twist until two men were stood in front of me._

_"Her, as a slave? What are we supposed to do with a child, she cannot work! She is too young."_

_"But if you raise her as a slave, she will not know defiance. Break her spirit before it has a chance to grow."_

_And suddenly the dream shifted,_ _their_ _face_ _s_ _and the surroundings being ripped apart as I was thrown into a new reality, disorientating me before everything solidified back into a new scene. The temperature rocketed and my ears were bombarded with the roar of a crowd, as I was groggily pushed out into stuffy heat and sunlight. Staggering forwards, I could hear someone announcing something, but the whole world was warping underneath my feet, and the noise melded into one incomprehensible blur._

_I tripped and a ripple of laughter stormed the crowd as I was shoved up some stairs. My legs felt like they had lead tied to them and my body ached and cracked in protest. I felt thousands of eyes on me, studying me and mocking me, but I was so tired._

_Suddenly, the ground opened up underneath me and I catapulted through darkness until I came to a hard landing on the ground, grazing my knees upon impact. My hands were grimy and covered in filth and I realised that as the dreams were shifting, my body was too, changing with the time in my life that the memories had happened. The temperature got even hotter and I blearily looked up to see glowing molten tones scar against rock and fire. I flinched as a stinging flared in my back and my ears buzzed, but I knew where I was. The mines. Dragging myself up, I ignored the slaver behind me, even when he raised his whip again in a threat._

_People were screaming, being burned alive and battered mercilessly whilst they continued to work. Many had injuries, and some fatal, yet they proceeded to shovel the coal or turn cranks until their bodies dropped from sheer exhaustion, and they ceased to move, even when pain was inflicted upon them. I watched a slaver scatter food on the ground as one might do for birds and then laugh as slaves hounded the scraps, straining for any that they could get._

_A burning sensation spiked from my wrist, and I looked down numbly to see a whip wrapped around it. As I watched, the electrified cable morphed, turning into black metal shackles that weighed me down. Another materialised on my other wrist and I was wrenched forwards towards the wall as they started closing in. The other slaves were swallowed into the ground and the four walls pressed in until I was in a tiny stone room. It stank of iron, and my own body was coated in dry blood._

_Falling to my knees, my clothes shredded away until I was in a thin pale tunic with an open back, and a scream ripped itself from my throat as another lash rained down on my back. The last light faded as I was struck again and again, harder and harder until I had no voice left with to scream anymore. I was left whimpering and shivering, my back slick with blood as the guard raised his whip one last time._

_Bowing my head, I closed my eyes._

*

Bolting upright, I panted heavily, drenched in sweat and my clothes clung to my skin uncomfortably. Momentarily, I wondered where I was before everything came rushing back and I could breathe. But it felt as though my heart had been shredded in two. My cheeks were wet with tears and I forced myself to breathe in counts of five. I was fine. I was away from Zygerria. Nothing would hurt me.

So why did I feel so endangered?

Never had I felt so trapped and alone. On Zygerria, at least I knew my surroundings and I had the other slaves. Here, I had no-one.

_My social circle is just fantastic, isn't it._

But even as I thought it, I had made some sort of bizarre peace with Kenobi for the moment, or at least it had seemed like it. Much of that conversation had been left open for interpretation.

Sighing through my nose, I combed my fingers through my hair, just listening to then gentle hum of the ship's machinery and the shuffling of clones outside. I wondered what would have happened had I not tried to escape. Where would I be now? Wandering the ship free? I snorted.

Free. How cute.

I'd tried to run because I knew that I'd never be free. My life experiences had made that quite clear. I'd always had to make freedom for myself, whether it was working my butt off for the Queen of Zygerria to be allowed in the gardens to pick some stupid flowers, or getting out of that damn processing mine. If life wasn't going to give me lemons, then I'd grow those lemons myself. But now, I didn't even know what freedom was. I had two sides warring with myself. One was my calling to go back to Coruscant, rejoin the Order. The other was telling me to run. Run far away from my problems. Find a small world that no-one cared about and start anew. The idea had seemed so sweet at the time. I could pretend that the old me didn't exist, but now... now I didn't know what I wanted. 

How was I supposed to pick a side with myself?

I could have thought on it until the latest hours of the night, but as I tossed and turned, sleep began to catch up with me and I drifted away to the rhythmic hum of machinery in the walls, the only source of order in my own little wold of chaos. Instead, I allowed myself to sleep.

After all, hadn't I always run from my problems?

**\----Author's Note----**

**I'M SORRY, THIS IS LITERALLY THE WORST ENDING I'VE EVER DONE!**

**Crap, that was painful. I'm just gonna apologise now for this entire chapter. This was bad, but at least it solved some story issues. Now let's erase it from our memories.**

**So, the other day, I subjected my real-life best friend to** **listening to me ramble on about the entire plot line of this book. Basically, if I find a plot hole, then I will go to her and stress about it before she slaps me and tells me to pull myself together.**

**So round of applause for my best friend!!**

**And believe me, when working around a real-life TV series, makes a lot of plot holes because of time gaps.**

**The beauty of Clone Wars though, is that the series was not made in chronological order so everything from halfway through Season 3 forwards, I can manipulate. *rubs hands evilly*. Also, I have officially picked a theme song for Reina. "Alive" by Sia. It is literally the perfect song and also, I really like Sia anyway.**

**Maybe leave a lil' kudos and tell me what you think?**

**Thnx**

**Smudgie xoxo**


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